THE   GREEN   SATIN   GOWN 


"  TIIK    FIRST    TITTKR     Pl'T     A     FIKK     IN     MY    VKINS    THAT 
KH.I'T     MK     WARM     ALL    TIIK     KVK.NIM;." 


THE    G 
SATI 


By 


Author   o/  "fcaptanj  I  Jan 
Margarets,"  r  Peggy,' 


Melody,"    "Three 
ildegarde,"  etc.,  etc. 


Illustrated  6g 
ETHELDRED    B.     BARRY 


stonJtD&na.     Estes 
Company    ^s*    Publishers 


Copyright,  1903 
BY  DANA  ESTES  &  COMPANY 


All  rights  reserved 


THE   GREEN    SATIN   GOWN 

Published  May,  1903 


Colonial 

Electrotypcd  and  Printed  by  C.  H.  Slmonda  &  Co. 
Boston,  Mass.,  U.  S.  A. 


SRLE 
URL 

5149662 


TO 
THE   GIRLS   OF 

ft!)*  Jrftag  Club 
of  (Sartriner,  fKaine 

THIS    VOLUME 
IS   AFFECTIONATELY    DEDICATED 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

THE  GREEN  SATIN  GOWN 11 

BLUE  EGYPTIANS          ......  35 

LITTLE  BENJAMIN 81 

DON  ALONZO H^ 

THE  SHED  CHAMBER 143 

MAINE  TO  THE  RESCUE 169 

THE  SCARLET  LEAVES 197 


LIST   OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

"  THE    FIRST    TITTER    PUT    A    FIRE    IN    MY   VEINS 
THAT    KEPT    ME    WARM    ALL    THE    EVENING  " 

(Page  29)       .....         Frontispiece 
"  GREGORY  POLISHED  IT   ON   HIS    SLEEVE,  AND 

IIKLD  IT  UP  AGAIN"    .....       48 
«<A  LONG  BASKET  WITH  SOMETHING  WHITE  IN 
SIDE  ;  AND  —  IT'S  CRYING  !  '  '       .        .        .82 
« « FATHER   SAYS    THE   LORD   SENT   YOU.     DID 

HE?'" .  .150 

"MAINE    HAILED    HIM    FROM    THE    TOP   OF    A 

GREAT  DRIFT  " 192 

THE  CONFERENCE 200 


THE  GREEN  SATIN  GOWN 


THE  GREEN   SATIN  GOWN 

WHO  ever  wore  such  a  queer-looking 
thing?  I  wore  it  myself,  dear,  once  upon 
a  time ;  yes,  I  did !  Perhaps  you  would 
like  to  hear  about  it,  while  you  mend  that 
tear  in  your  muslin.  Sit  down,  then,  and 
let  us  be  cosy. 

I  was  making  a  visit  in  Hillton  once, 
when  I  was  seventeen  years  old,  just 
your  age ;  staying  with  dear  old  Miss 
Persis  Elderby,  who  is  now  dead.  I  have 

told  you  about  her,  and  it  is  strange  that 
11 


12  THE    GREEN    SAT IX    (,U\VX 

I  have  never  told  you  the  story  of  the 
green  satin  gown ;  but,  indeed,  it  is  years 
since  I  looked  at  it.  We  were  great 
friends,  Miss  Persis  and  I ;  and  we  never 
thought  much  about  the  difference  in  our 
ages,  for  she  was  young  for  her  years,  and 
I  was  old  for  mine.  In  our  daily  walk 
through  the  pretty,  sleepy  Hillton  street 
—  we  always  went  for  the  mail,  together, 
for  though  Miss  Persis  seldom  received  let 
ters,  she  always  liked  to  see  mine,  and  it 
was  quite  the  event  of  the  day  —  my  good 
friend  seldom  failed  to  point  out  to  me  a 
stately  mansion  that  stood  by  itself  on  a 
little  height,  and  to  say  in  a  tone  of  pride, 
"  The  Le  Baron  place,  my  dear  ;  the  finest 
place  in  the  county.  Madam  Le  Baron, 
who  lives  there  alone  now,  is  as  great  a 
lady  as  any  in  Europe,  though  she  wears  no 
coronet  to  her  name." 


THE    GREEN  SATIN   GOWN  13 

I  never  knew  exactly  what  Miss  Persis 
meant  by  this  last  remark,  but  it  sounded 
magnificent,  and  I  always  gazed  respect 
fully  at  the  gray  stone  house  which  shel 
tered  so  grand  a  personage.  Madam  Le 
Baron,  it  appeared,  never  left  the  house 
in  winter,  and  this  was  January.  Her 
friends  called  on  her  at  stated  intervals, 
and,  to  judge  from  Miss  Persis,  never  failed 
to  come  away  in  a  state  of  reverential  en 
thusiasm.  I  could  not  help  picturing  to 
myself  the  great  lady  as  about  six  feet  tall, 
clad  in  purple  velvet,  and  waving  a  pea 
cock-feather  fan  ;  but  I  never  confided  my 
imaginings  even  to  the  sympathetic  Miss 
Persis. 

One  day  my  friend  returned  from  a 
visit  to  the  stone  house,  quite  breathless, 
her  pretty  old  face  pink  with  excitement. 
She  sat  down  on  the  chair  nearest  the 


14  THE    GREEN  SATIN   GOWN 

door,  and  gazed  at  me  with  speechless 
emotion. 

"  Dear  Miss  Persia  !  "  I  cried.  "  What 
has  happened  ?  Have  you  had  bad  news  ?  " 

Miss  Persis  shook  her  head.  "  Bad 
news  ?  I  should  think  not,  indeed  !  Child, 
Madam  Le  Baron  wishes  to  see  you. 
More  I  cannot  say  at  present.  Not  a 
word !  Put  on  your  best  hat,  and  come 
with  me.  Madam  Le  Baron  waits  for  us !  " 

It  was  as  if  she  had  said,  "  The  Sultan 
is  on  the  front  door-step."  I  flew  up-stairs, 
and  made  myself  as  smart  as  I  could  in 
such  a  hurry.  My  cheeks  were  as  pink  as 
Miss  Persis's  own,  and  though  I  had  not 
the  faintest  idea  what  was  the  matter,  I 
felt  that  it  must  be  something  of  vital 
import.  On  the  way,  I  begged  my  com 
panion  to  explain  matters  to  me,  but  she 
only  shook  her  head  and  trotted  on  the 


THE    GREEN  SATIN   GOWN  15 

faster.  "  No  time  !  "  she  panted.  "  Speech 
delays  me,  my  dear !  All  will  be  ex 
plained  ;  only  make  haste. " 

We  made  such  haste,  that  by  the  time 
we  rang  at  the  door  of  the  stone  house 
neither  of  us  could  speak,  and  Miss  Persis 
could  only  make  a  mute  gesture  to  the 
dignified  maid  who  opened  the  door,  and 
who  looked  amazed,  as  well  she  might, 
at  our  burning  cheeks  and  disordered 
appearance.  Fortunately,  she  knew  Miss 
Persis  well,  and  lost  no  time  in  usher 
ing  us  into  a  cool,  dimly  lighted  parlor, 
hung  with  family  portraits.  Here  we  sat, 
and  fanned  ourselves  with  our  pocket-hand 
kerchiefs,  while  I  tried  to  find  breath  for 
a  question ;  but  there  was  not  time !  A 
door  opened  at  the  further  end  of  the  room  ; 
there  was  a  soft  rustle,  a  smell  of  sandal- 
wood  in  the  air.  The  next  moment 


16  THE    GREEN  SATIN   GOWX 

Madam  Le  Baron  stood  before  us.  A 
slender  figure,  about  my  own  height,  in 
a  quaint,  old-fashioned  dress ;  snowy  hair, 
arranged  in  puff  on  puff,  with  exquisite 
nicety  ;  the  darkest,  softest  eyes  I  ever  saw, 
and  a  general  air  of  having  left  her  crown 
in  the  next  room  ;  this  was  the  great  lady. 

We  rose,  and  I  made  my  best  courtesy, 
—  we  courtesied  then,  my  dear,  instead  of 
bowing  like  pump-handles,  —  and  she  spoke 
to  us  in  a  soft  old  voice,  that  rustled  like 
the  silk  she  wore,  though  it  had  a  clear 
sound,  too.  "  So  this  is  the  child !  "  she 
said.  "  I  trust  yon  are  very  well,  my 
dear !  And  has  Miss  Eldorby  told  you  of 
the  small  particular  in  which  you  can 
oblige  me  ?  " 

Miss  Persis  hastened  to  say  that  she 
wasted  no  time  on  explanations,  but  had 
brought  me  as  quickly  as  might  be,  think- 


THE    GREEN  SATIN   GOWN  17 

irig  that  the  main  thing.  Madam  Le 
Baron  nodded,  and  smiled  a  little ;  then 
she  turned  to  me ;  a  few  quiet  words,  and 
I  knew  all  about  it.  She  had  received  that 
morning  a  note  from  her  grandniece,  "  a 
young  and  giddy  person,"  who  lived  in 
B ,  some  twenty  miles  away,  announc 
ing  that  she  and  a  party  of  friends  were 
about  to  drive  over  to  Hillton  to  see  the 
old  house.  She  felt  sure  that  her  dear  aunt 
would  be  enchanted  to  see  them,  as  it  must 
be  "  quite  too  forlorn  for  her,  all  alone 
in  that  great  barn ; "  so  she  might  expect 
them  the  next  evening  (that  is,  the  evening 
of  this  very  day),  in  time  for  supper,  and 
no  doubt  as  hungry  as  hunters.  There 
would  be  about  a  dozen  of  them,  probably, 
but  she  knew  there  was  plenty  of  room  at 
Birchwood,  and  it  would  be  a  good  thing 
to  fill  up  the  empty  rooms  for  once  in  a 


18  THE    GREEN   SATIN   GOWN 

way ;  so,  looking  forward  to  a  pleasant 
meeting,  the  writer  remained  her  dearest 
aunt's  "affectionate  niece,  Effie  Gay." 

"  The  child  has  no  mother,"  said  Madam 
Le  Baron  to  Miss  Persis ;  then  turning  to 
me,  she  said  :  "  I  am  alone,  save  for  my 
two  maids,  who  are  of  middle  age,  and  not 
accustomed  to  youthful  visitors.  Learning 
from  my  good  friend,  Miss  Elderby,  that  a 
young  gentlewoman  was  staying  at  her 
house,  I  conceived  the  idea  of  asking  you 
to  spend  the  night  with  me,  and  such  por 
tion  of  the  next  day  as  my  guests  may 
remain.  If  you  are  willing  to  do  me  this 
service,  my  dear,  you  may  put  off  your 
bonnet,  and  I  will  send  for  your  evening 
dress  and  your  toilet  necessaries." 

I  had  been  listening  in  a  dream,  hearing 
what  was  said,  but  thinking  it  all  like  a 
fairy  story,  chiefly  impressed  by  the  fact 


THE    GREEN   SATIN   GOWN  19 

that  the  speaker  was  the  most  beautiful 
person  I  had  ever  seen  in  my  life.  The  last 
sentence,  however,  brought  me  to  my  senses 
with  a  vengeance.  With  scarlet  cheeks  I 
explained  that  I  had  brought  no  evening 
dress  with  me ;  that  I  lived  a  very  quiet 
life  at  home,  and  had  expected  nothing 
different  here  ;  that,  to  be  quite  frank,  I 
had  not  such  a  thing  as  an  evening  dress 
in  the  world.  Miss  Persis  turned  pale  with 
distress  and  mortification;  but  Madam  Le 
Baron  looked  at  me  quietly,  with  her  lovely 
smile. 

"  I  will  provide  you  with  a  suitable  dress, 
my  child, "  she  said.  "  I  have  something 
that  will  do  very  well  for  you.  If  you  like 
to  go  to  your  room  now,  my  maid  will 
attend  you,  and  bring  what  is  necessary. 
We  expect  our  guests  in  time  for  supper, 
at  eight  o'clock." 


20  THE    GREEN   SATIN   GOWN 

Decidedly,  I  had  walked  into  a  fairy  tale, 
or  else  I  was  dreaming !  Here  I  sat  in 
a  room  hung  with  flowered  damask,  in  a 
wonderful  chair,  by  a  wonderful  fire ;  and 
a  fairy,  little  and  withered  and  brown, 
dressed  in  what  I  knew  must  be  black 
bombazine,  though  I  knew  it  only  from  de 
scriptions,  was  bringing  me  tea,  and  plum- 
cake,  on  a  silver  tray.  She  looked  at 
me  with  kind,  twinkling  eyes,  and  said 
she  would  bring  the  dress  at  once ;  then 
left  me  to  my  own  wondering  fancies. 
I  hardly  knew  what  to  be  thinking  of, 
so  much  was  happening :  more,  it  seemed, 
in  these  few  hours,  than  in  all  my  life 
before.  I  tried  to  fix  my  mind  on  the 
gay  party  that  would  soon  fill  the  silent 
house  with  life  and  tumult ;  T  tried  to 
fancy  how  Miss  Effie  Gay  would  look, 
and  what  she  would  say  to  me  ;  but  my 


THE    GREEN   SATIN    GOWN  21 

mind  kept  coming  back  to  the  dress,  the 
evening  dress,  that  I  was  to  be  privileged 
to  wear.  What  would  it  be  like  ?  Would 
silk  or  muslin  be  prettier  ?  If  only  it  were 
not  pink !  A  red-haired  girl  in  pink  was 
a  sad  sight ! 

Looking  up,  I  saw  a  portrait  on  the  wall, 
of  a  beautiful  girl,  in  a  curious,  old-time 
costume.  The  soft  dark  eyes  and  regal 
turn  of  the  head  told  me  that  it  was  my 
hostess  in  her  youth  ;  and  even  as  I  looked, 
I  heard  the  rustle  again,  and  smelt  the 
faint  odor  of  sandalwood ;  and  Madam  Le 
Baron  came  softly  in,  followed  by  the  fairy 
maid,  bearing  a  long  parcel. 

"  Your  gown,  my  dear, "  she  said,  "  I 
thought  you  would  like  to  be  preparing  for 
the  evening.  Undo  it,  Jessop  !  " 

Jessop  lifted  fold  on  fold  of  tissue-paper. 
I  looked,  expecting  I  know  not  what  fairy 


22  THE    GREEN   SAT IX   GOWN 

thing  of   lace    and    muslin :    I    saw  —  the 
green  satin  gown ! 

We  were  wearing  large  sleeves  then, 
something  like  yours  at  the  present  day, 
and  high  collars ;  the  fashion  was  at 
its  height.  This  gown  had  long,  tight, 
wrinkled  sleeves,  coming  down  over  the 
hand,  and  finished  with  a  ruffle  of  yellow 
lace ;  the  neck,  rounded  and  half-low,  had 
a  similar  ruffle  almost  deep  enough  to  be 
called  a  ruff ;  the  waist,  if  it  could  be 
called  a  waist,  was  up  under  the  arms : 
briefly,  a  costume  of  my  grandmother's 
time.  Little  green  satin  slippers  lay  be 
side  it,  and  a  huge  feather-fan  hung 
by  a  green  ribbon.  Was  this  a  jest  ? 
was  it  —  I  looked  up,  with  burning 
cheeks  and  eyes  suffused  ;  I  met  a  glance 
so  kind,  so  beaming  with  good-will, 
that  my  eyes  fell,  and  I  could  only 


THE    GREEN    SATIN    GOWN  23 

hope  that  my  anguish  had  not  been 
visible. 

"  Shall  Jessop  help  you,  my  dear  ?  "  said 
Madam  Le  Baron.  "  You  can  do  it  by 
yourself?  Well,  I  like  to  see  the  young 
independent.  I  think  the  gown  will  be 
come  you ;  it  has  been  considered  hand 
some."  She  glanced  fondly  at  the  shining 
fabric,  and  left  the  room ;  the  maid,  after 
one  sharp  glance  at  me,  in  which  I 
thought  I  read  an  amused  compassion, 
followed ;  and  I  was  left  alone  with  the 
green  satin  gown. 

Cry  ?  No,  I  did  not  cry :  I  had  been 
brought  up  not  to  cry ;  but  I  suffered,  my 
dear,  as  one  does  suffer  at  seventeen.  I 
thought  of  jumping  out  of  the  window 
and  running  away,  back  to  Miss  Persis  ; 
I  thought  of  going  to  bed,  and  saying  T 
was  ill.  It  was  true,  I  said  to  myself, 


24  THE    d  RE  EN    SATIN    GOWN 

with  feverish  violence :  I  was  ill,  sick  with 
shame  and  mortification  and  disappoint 
ment.  Appear  before  this  gay  party, 
dressed  like  my  own  great-grandmother  ? 
I  would  rather  die !  A  person  might 
easily  die  of  such  distress  as  this  —  and 
so  on,  and  so  on ! 

Suddenly,  like  a  cool  touch  on  my  brow, 
came  a  thought,  a  word  of  my  Uncle  John's, 
that  had  helped  me  many  a  time  before. 

"Endeavor.  :ny  dear,  to  maintain  a 
sense  of  proportion  !  " 

The  words  fell  with  weight  on  my  dis- 

• 

tracted  mind.  I  sat  up  straight  in  the 
armchair  into  which  I  had  flung  myself, 
face  downward.  Was  there  any  propor 
tion  in  this  horror  ?  I  shook  myself,  then 
put  the  two  sides  together,  and  looked  at 
them.  On  one  side,  two  lovely  old  ladies, 
one  of  whom  T  could  perl) a ps  help  a  little, 


THE   GREEN  SATIN   GOWN  25 

both  of  whom  I  could  gratify ;  on  the 
other,  my  own  —  dear  me  !  was  it  vanity  ? 
I  thought  of  the  two  sweet  old  faces, 
shining  with  kindness ;  I  fancied  the  dis 
tress,  the  disappointment,  that  might  come 
into  them,  if  I  — 

"  Yes,  dear  uncle,"  I  said  aloud,  "  I  have 
found  the  proportion !  "  I  shook  myself 
again,  and  began  to  dress.  And  now  a 
happy  thought  struck  me.  Glancing  at  the 
portrait  on  the  wall,  I  saw  that  the  fair  girl 
was  dressed  in  green.  Was  it  ?  Yes,  it 
must  be  —  it  was  —  the  very  same  dress  ! 
Quickly,  and  as  neatly  as  I  could,  I  ar 
ranged  my  hair  in  two  great  puffs,  with  a 
butterfly  knot  on  the  top  of  my  head,  in  the 
style  of  the  picture ;  if  only  I  had  the  high 
comb  !  I  slipped  on  the  gown,  which  fitted 
me  well  enough.  I  put  on  the  slippers,  and 
tied  the  green  ribbons  round  and  round 


26  THE    GREEN   SATIN   GOWN 

my  ankles ;  then  I  lighted  all  the  candles, 
and  looked  at  myself.  A  perfect  guy  ? 
Well,  perhaps  —  and  yet  — 

At  this  moment  Jessop  entered,  bringing 
a  pair  of  yellow  gloves ;  she  looked  me 
over  critically,  saying  nothing ;  glanced 
at  the  portrait,  withdrew,  and  presently 
reappeared,  with  the  high  tortoise-shell 
comb  in  her  hand.  She  placed  it  care 
fully  in  my  hair,  surveyed  me  again,  and 
again  looked  at  the  picture.  Yes,  it  was 
true,  the  necklace  was  wanting ;  but  of 
course  — 

Really,  Jessop  was  behaving  like  a  jack- 
in-the-box  !  She  had  disappeared  again, 
and  now  here  she  was  for  the  third  time ; 
but  this  time  Madam  Le  Baron  was  with 
her.  The  old  lady  looked  at  me  silently, 
at  my  hair,  then  up  at  the  picture. 
The  sight  of  the  pleasure  in  her  lovely 


THE    GREEN    SATIN    GOWN  27 

face  trampled  under  foot,  put  out  of  ex 
istence,  the  last  remnant  of  my  foolish 
pride. 

She  turned  to  Jessop  and  nodded. 
"  Yes,  by  all  means ! "  she  said.  The 
maid  put  into  her  hand  a  long  morocco 
box ;  Madam  kissed  me,  and  with  soft, 
trembling  fingers  clasped  the  necklace 
round  my  neck.  "  It  is  a  graceful  compli 
ment  you  pay  me,  my  child,"  she  said, 
glancing  at  the  picture  again,  with  eyes 
a  little  dimmed.  "Oblige  me  by  wearing 
this,  to  complete  the  vision  of  my  past 
youth." 

Ten  stars  of  chrysoprase,  the  purest  and 
tenderest  green  in  the  world,  set  in  deli 
cately  wrought  gold.  I  need  not  describe 
the  necklace  to  you.  You  think  it  the 
most  beautiful  jewel  in  the  world,  and 
so  do  I ;  and  I  have  promised  that  you 


28  THE    GREEN  SATIN   GOWN 

shall  wear  it  on  your  eighteenth  birth 
day. 

Madam  Le  Baron  saw  nothing  singular 
in  my  appearance.  She  never  changed  the 
fashion  of  her  dress,  being  of  the  opinion, 
as  she  told  me  afterward,  that  a  gentle 
woman's  dress  is  her  own  affair,  not  her 
mantna-maker's ;  and  her  gray  and  silver 
brocade  went  very  well  with  the  green 
satin.  We  stood  side  by  side  for  a 
moment,  gazing  into  the  long,  dim  mir 
ror  ;  then  she  patted  my  shoulder  and 
gave  a  little  sigh. 

"  Yonr  auburn  hair  looks  well  with  the 
green,"  she  said.  "My  hair  was  dark, 
but  otherwise —  Shall  we  go  down,  my 
dear?" 

I  will  not  say  much  about  the  evening. 
It  was  painful,  of  course ;  but  Erne  Gay 
had  no  mother,  and  much  must  be  par- 


THE    GREEN   SATIN   GOWN  29 

doned  in  such  a  case.  No  doubt  I  made 
a  quaint  figure  enough  among  the  six 
or  eight  gay  girls,  all  dressed  in  the  latest 
fashion ;  but  the  first  moment  was  the 
worst,  and  the  first  titter  put  a  fire  in  my 
veins  that  kept  me  warm  all  the  evening. 
An  occasional  glance  at  Madam  Le  Baron's 
placid  face  enabled  me  to  preserve  my 
sense  of  proportion,  and  I  remembered 
that  two  wise  men,  Solomon  and  my  Uncle 
John,  had  compared  the  laughter  of  fools  to 
the  crackling  of  thorns  under  a  pot.  And 
—  and  there  were  some  who  did  not  laugh. 

Pin  it  up,  my  dear !  Your  father  has 
come,  and  will  be  wanting  his  tea. 

I  can  tell  you  the  rest  of  the  story  in 
a  few  words. 

A  year  from  that  time  Madam  Le  Baron 
died  ;  and  a  few  weeks  after  her  death, 
a  parcel  came  for  me  from  Hillton. 


30  THE    GREEN   SATIN    GOWN 

Opening  it  in  great  wonder,  what  did  I 
find  but  the  gown,  the  green  satin  gown, 
with  the  slippers  and  fan,  and  the  tortoise- 
shell  comb  in  a  leather  case !  Lifting  it 
reverently  from  the  box,  the  dress  felt 
singularly  heavy  on  my  arm,  and  a  mo 
ment's  search  revealed  a  strange  matter. 
The  pocket  was  full  of  gold  pieces,  shining 
half-eagles,  which  fell  about  me  in  a 
golden  shower,  and  made  me  cry  out  with 
amazement ;  but  this  was  not  all !  The 
tears  sprang  to  my  eyes  as  I  opened  the 
morocco  box  and  took  out  the  chrysoprase 
necklace :  tears  partly  of  gratitude  and 
pleasure,  partly  of  sheer  kindness  and  love 
and  sorrow  for  the  sweet,  stately  lady  who 
had  thought  of  me  in  her  closing  days, 
and  had  found  (they  told  me  afterward) 
one  of  her  last  pleasures  in  planning  this 
surprise  for  me. 


THE    GREEN    SATIN   GOWN  31 

There  is  something  more  that  I  might 
say,  my  dear.  Your  dear  father  was  one 
of  that  gay  sleighing  party ;  and  he  often 
speaks  of  the  first  time  he  saw  me  —  when 
I  was  coming  down  the  stairs  in  the  green 
satin  gown. 


BLUE   EGYPTIANS 


BLUE   EGYPTIANS1 

A    PAPER-MILL    STORY 

"  I  WOULDN'T,  Lena ! " 

"  Well,  I  guess  I  shall !  " 

"  Don't,  Lena !  please  don't !  you  will 
be  sorry,  I  am  sure,  if  you  do  it.  It  can 
not  bring  good,  I  know  it  cannot !  " 

"  The  idea !  Mary  Denison,  you  are  too 
old-fashioned  for  anything.  I'd  like  to 
know  what  harm  it  can  do." 

The  rag-room  was  nearly  deserted.  The 
whistle  had  blown,  and  most  of  the  girls 
had  hurried  away  to  their  dinner.  Two 
only  lingered  behind,  deep  in  conversation ; 
Mary  Denison  and  Lena  Laxen. 

inaiu  incidents  in  this  story  are  founded  on  fact. 
35 


36  THE    GREEN   SATIN   GOWN 

Mary  was  sitting  by  her  sorting-table, 
busily  sorting  rags  as  she  talked.  She  was 
a  fair,  slender  girl,  and  looked  wonderfully 
fresh  and  trim  in  her  gray  print  gown, 
with  a  cap  of  the  same  material  fitting 
close  to  her  head,  and  hiding  her  pretty 
hair.  The  other  girl  was  dark  and  viva 
cious,  with  laughing  black  eyes  and  a  care 
less  mouth.  She  was  picturesque  enough 
in  her  blue  dress,  with  the  scarlet  handker 
chief  tied  loosely  over  her  hair ;  but  both 
kerchief  and  dress  showed  the  dust  plainly, 
and  the  dark  locks  that  escaped  here  and 
there  were  dusty  too,  showing  little  of  the 
care  that  may  keep  one  neat  even  in  a 
rag-room. 

"  It's  just  as  pretty  as  it  can  be  !  "  Lena 
went  on,  half-coaxing,  half-defiant.  "  You 
ought  to  see  it,  Mame !  A  silk  waist, 
every  bit  as  good  as  new,  only  of  course 


BLUE   EGYPTIANS  37 

it's  mussed  up,  lying  in  the  bag;  and  a 
skirt,  and  lots  of  other  things,  all  as  nice 
as  nice  !  I  can't  think  what  the  folks  that 
had  them  meant,  putting  such  things  into 
the  rags :  why,  that  waist  hadn't  much 
more  than  come  out  of  the  shop,  you 
might  say.  And  do  you  think  I'm  going 
to  let  it  go  through  the  duster,  and 
then  be  thrown  out,  and  somebody  else 
get  it  ?  No,  sir !  and  it's  no  good 
for  rags,  you  know  it  isn't,  Mary  Deni- 


son." 


"I  know  that  it  is  not  yours,  Lena,  nor 
mine  !  "  said  Mary,  steadily.  "  But  I'll 
tell  you  what  you  might  do ;  go  straight 
to  Mr.  Gordon,  and  tell  him  about  the 
pretty  waist,  —  very  likely  it  got  in  by 
mistake,  —  tell  him  it  is  no  good  for  rags, 
and  ask  if  you  may  have  it.  Like  as  not 
he'll  let  you  have  it ;  and  if  not,  you  will 


38  THE    GREEN    SATIN    GOWN 

find  out  what  his  reason  is.  I  think  we 
ought  to  suppose  he  has  some  reason  for 
what  he  does." 

Lena  laughed  spitefully. 

"  Like  as  not  he's  going  to  take  it  home 
to  his  own  girl !  "  she  said.  "  I  saw  her  in 
the  street  the  other  day,  and  I  wouldn't 
have  been  seen  dead  with  the  hat  she  had 
on ;  not  a  flower,  nor  even  a  scrap  of  a 
feather ;  just  a  plain  band  and  a  goose- 
quill  stuck  in  it.  Real  poorhouse,  I  thought 
it  looked,  and  he  as  rich  as  a  Jew.  I  guess 
I  sha'n't  go  to  Mr.  Gordon  ;  he's  just  as 
hateful  as  he  can  be.  He  gave  out  word 
that  no  one  was  to  touch  that  bag,  nor  so 
much  as  go  near  it ;  and  he  had  it  set  off 
in  a  corner  of  the  outer  shed,  close  by  the 
chloride  barrels,  so  that  everything  in  it 
will  smell  like  poison.  If  that  isn't  mean, 
I  don't  know  what  is. 


BLUE    EGYPTIANS  39 

"Well,  I  can't  stay  here  all  day,  Maine. 
Aren't  you  coming?" 

"Pretty  soon!"  said  Mary.  "Don't 
wait  for  me,  Lena !  I  want  to  finish  this 
stint,  so  as  to  have  the  afternoon  off. 
Mother's  poorly  to-day,  and  I  want  to  cook 
something  nice  for  her  supper." 

Lena  nodded  and  went  out,  shutting  the 
door  with  a  defiant  swing.  Mary  looked 
after  her  doubtfully,  as  if  hesitating 
whether  she  ought  not  to  follow  and  make 
some  stronger  plea ;  but  the  next  moment 
she  bent  over  her  work  again. 

"I  must  hurry!"  she  said.  "I'll  see 
Lena  after  dinner,  and  try  to  make  her 
promise  not  to  touch  that  bag.  I  don't 
see  what  has  got  into  her." 

Mary  worked  away  steadily.  The  rags 
were  piled  in  an  iron  sieve  before  her ; 
they  were  mostly  the  kind  called  "  Blue 


40          V7//1  <;REI-:X  SATIX  (;<nv.\ 

Egyptians,"  cotton  cloth  dyed  with  indigo, 
which  had  come  far  across  the  sea  from 
Egypt.  Musty  and  fusty  enough  they 
were,  and  Mary  often  turned  her  head 
aside  as  she  sorted  them  carefully,  putting 
the  good  rags  into  a  huge  basket  that  stood 
beside  her  on  the  floor,  while  the  bits  of 
woollen  cloth,  of  paper  and  string  and 
other  refuse,  went  into  different  com 
partments  of  the  sorting  -  table,  which 
was  something  like  an  old-fashioned  box- 
desk. 

Mary  was  a  quick  worker,  and  her 
basket  was  already  nearly  full  of  rags. 
Fastened  upright  beside  her  seat  was  a 
great  knife,  not  unlike  a  scythe-blade, 
with  which  she  cut  off  the  buttons  and 
hooks  and  eyes,  running  the  garment  along 
the  keen  edge  with  a  quick  and  practised 
hand.  Usually  she  amused  herself  by 


BLUE   EGYPTIANS  41 

imagining  stories  about  the  buttons  and 
their  former  owners,  for  she  was  a  fanciful 
girl,  and  her  child-life,  without  brothers  or 
sisters,  had  bred  in  her  the  habit  of  solitary 
play  and  "  make-believe,"  which  clung  to 
her  now  that  she  was  a  tall  girl  of  sixteen. 
But  to-day  she  was  not  thinking  of  the  . 
Blue  Egyptians.  Her  thoughts  were  fol 
lowing  Lena  on  her  homeward  way,  and 
she  was  hoping  devoutly  that  her  own 
words  might  have  had  some  effect,  and 
that  Lena  might  pass  by  the  forbidden 
bag  without  lingering  to  be  further 
tempted.  It  was  strange  that  this  one 
special  bundle  of  rags,  coming  from  a 
village  at  some  distance,  should  have  been 
kept  apart  when  the  day's  allowance  was 
put  into  the  dusters.  But  —  "Mother 
always  says  we  ought  to  suppose  there  is  a 
reason  for  things !  "  she  said  to  herself. 


42  THE    GREEN   SATIN    GOWN 

And  she  shook  her  head  resolutely,  and 
tried  to  make  a  "  button-play." 

She  pulled  from  the  heap  before  her 
a  dark  blue  garment,  and  turned  it  over, 
examining  it  carefully.  It  seemed  to  be 
a  woman's  jacket.  It  was  of  finer  mate 
rial  than  most  of  the  "  Egyptians,"  and  the 
fashion  was  quaint  and  graceful.  There 
were  remnants  of  embroidery  here  and 
there,  and  the  heavy  glass  buttons  were 
like  nothing  Mary  had  ever  seen  before. 

"I'll  keep  these,"  she  said,  "for  little 
Jessie  Brown  ;  she  will  be  delighted  with 
them.  That  child  does  make  so  much  out 
of  so  little,  I'm  fairly  ashamed  sometimes. 
These  will  be  a  fortune  to  Jessie.  I'll  tell 
her  that  I  think  most  likely  they  belonged 
to  a  princess  when  they  were  new  ;  they 
were  up  and  down  the  front  of  a  dress  of 
gold  cloth  trimmed  with  pearls,  and  she 


BLUE    EGYPTIANS  43 

looked  perfectly  beautiful  when  she  had 
it  on,  and  the  Prince  of  the  Fortunate 
Islands  fell  in  love  with  her." 

Buttons  were  a  regular  perquisite  of  the 
rag-girls  in  the  Cumquot  Mill ;  indeed,  any 
trifle,  coin,  or  seal,  or  medal,  was  consid 
ered  the  property  of  the  finder,  this  being 
an  unwritten  law  of  the  rag-room. 

Mary  cut  the  buttons  off,  and  slipped 
them  into  her  pocket;  then  she  ran  her 
fingers  round  the  edge  of  the  jacket,  in 
case  there  were  any  hooks  or  other  hard 
substance  that  had  escaped  her  notice,  and 
that  might  blunt  the  knives  of  the  cutter, 
into  which  it  would  next  go. 

In  a  corner  of  the  lining,  her  fingers  met 
something  hard.  Here  was  some  object 
that  had  slipped  down  between  the  stuff 
and  the  lining,  and  must  be  cut  out. 
Mary  ran  the  jacket  along  the  cutting- 


44  THE    GREEN   SATIN   GOW.\ 

knife,  and  something  rolled  into  her  lap. 
Not  a  button  this  time !  she  held  it  up  to 
the  light,  and  examined  it  curiously.  It 
was  a  brooch,  of  glass,  or  clear  stones, 
in  a  tarnished  silver  setting.  Dim  and 
dusty,  it  still  seemed  full  of  light,  and 
glanced  in  the  sun  as  Mary  held  it  up. 

"  What  a  pretty  thing  !  "  she  said.  "  I 
wonder  if  it  is  glass.  I  must  take  this  to 
Mr.  Gordon,  for  I  never  found  anything 
like  it  before.  Jessie  cannot  have  this." 

She  laid  it  carefully  aside,  and  went  on 
with  her  sorting,  working  so  quickly  that 
in  a  few  moments  the  sieve  was  empty, 
and  the  basket  piled  with  good  cotton 
rags,  ready  for  the  cutting-machine. 

Taking  her  hat  and  shawl,  Mary  passed 
out,  holding  the  brooch  carefully  in  her 
hand.  There  were  few  people  in  the  mill, 
only  the  machine-tenders,  walking  leisurely 


BLUE    EGYPTIANS  45 

up  and  down  beside  their  machines,  which 
whirred  and  droned  on,  regardless  of  din 
ner-time.  The  great  rollers  went  round 
and  round,  the  broad  white  streams  flowed 
on  and  on  over  the  screens,  till  the  myste 
rious  moment  came  when  they  ceased  to 
be  wet  pulp  and  became  paper. 

Mary  hardly  glanced  at  the  wonderful 
machines ;  they  were  an  old  story  to  her, 
though  in  every  throb  they  were  telling 
over  and  over  the  marvellous  works  of 
man.  The  machine-tenders  nodded  kindly 
in  return  to  her  modest  greeting,  and 
looked  after  her  with  approval,  and  said, 
"  Nice  gal !  "  to  each  other ;  but  Mary 
hurried  on  until  she  came  to  the  finishing- 
room.  Here  she  hoped  to  find  a  friend 
whom  she  could  consult  about  her  dis 
covery  ;  and,  sure  enough,  old  Janw  Greg 
ory  was  sitting  on  his  accustomed  stool, 


46  THE    GREEN   SATIN   GOWN 

tying  bundles  of  paper  with  the  perfection 
that  no  one  else  could  equal.  His  back 
was  turned  to  the  door,  and  he  was  croon 
ing  a  fragment  of  an  old  paper-mill  song, 
which  might  have  been  composed  by  the 
beating  engine  itself,  so  rhythmic  and  mo 
notonous  it  was. 

"  'Gene,  'Gene, 
Made  a  machine; 
Joe,  Joe, 
Made  it  go; 
Frank,  Frank, 
Turned  the  crank, 
His  mother  came  out, 
And  gave  him  a  spank, 
And  knocked  him  over 
The  garden  bank." 

At  Mary's  cheerful  "  Good  morning,  Mr. 
Gregory ! "  the  old  man  turned  slowly,  and 
looked  at  the  young  girl  with  friendly  eyes. 

"  Good  day,  Mary  !  glad  to  see  ye  !  goin' 
along  home  ?  " 


BLUE   EGYPTIANS  47 

"  In  just  a  minute !  I  want  to  show  you 
something,  Mr.  Gregory,  and  to  ask  your 
advice,  please." 

The  old  finisher  turned  completely 
round  this  time,  and  looked  his  interest. 
Mary  opened  her  hand,  and  displayed  the 
brooch  she  had  found. 

James  Gregory  drew  his  lips  into  the 
form  of  a  whistle,  but  made  no  sound.  He 
looked  from  the  brooch  to  Mary,  and  back 
again. 

"Well?"  he  said. 

"  I  found  it  in  the  rags ;  blue  Egyptians, 
you  know,  Mr.  Gregory.  It  was  inside 
the  lining  of  a  jacket.  Do  you  think  — 
what  do  you  think  about  it  ?  is  it  glass, 
or  —  something  else  ?  " 

Gregory  took  the  ornament  from  her, 
and  held  it  up  to  the  light,  screwing  his 
eyes  to  little  points  of  light;  then  he 


48  THE   GREEN   SATIN   GOWN 

polished  it  on  his  sleeve,  and  held  it  up 
again. 

"  Something  else !  "  he  said,  briefly. 

"  Is  it  —  do  you  think  it  might  be  worth 
something,  Mr.  Gregory?"  asked  Mary, 
rather  timidly. 

Yes  ! "  roared  Gregory,  with  a  sudden 
explosion.  "  I  do !  I  b'lieve  them's  di'- 
monds,  sure  as  here  I  sit.  Mary  Denison, 
you've  struck  it  this  time,  or  I'm  a  Dutch 
man." 

He  got  off  his  stool  in  great  excitement, 
and  walked  up  and  down  the  room,  still 
holding  the  brooch  in  his  hand.  Mary 
looked  after  him,  and  her  face  was  very 
pale.  She  said  one  word  softly,  "Mother!" 
that  was  all. 

Mary  Denison  and  her  mother  were  poor. 
Mrs.  Denison  was  far  from  strong,  and  they 
had  no  easy  time  of  it,  for  there  was  little 


"GREGORY    POLISHED     IT     ON     HIS     SLEEVE,    AND     HELD 
IT    UP    AGAIN." 


BLUE    EGYPTIANS  49 

save  Mary's  wages  to  feed  and  clothe  the 
two  women  and  pay  their  rent.  James 
Gregory  knew  all  this  ;  his  pale  old  face 
was  lighted  with  emotion,  and  he  stumped 
up  and  down  the  room  at  a  rapid  pace. 

Suddenly  he  stopped,  and  faced  the  anx 
ious  girl,  who  was  following  him  with 
bewildered  eyes. 

"  Findin's  havin' !  "  he  said,  abruptly. 
"That's  paper-mill  law.  Some  folks  would 
tell  ye  to  keep  this  to  yourself,  and  sell  it 
for  what  you  could  get." 

Mary's  face  flushed. 

"  But  you  do  not  tell  me  that ! "  she 
said,  quietly. 

"  No ! "  roared  the  old  man,  with  an 
other  explosion,  stamping  violently  on  the 
floor.  "  No,  I  don't.  You're  poor  as  spring 
snakes,  and  your  mother's  sickly,  and 
you've  hard  work  to  get  enough  to  keep 


50  THE    GREEX    SAT1X    GO\\'X 

the  flesh  on  your  bones ;  but  I  don't  tell 
ye  to  do  that.  I  tell  ye  to  take  it  straight 
to  the  Old  Man,  and  tell  him  where  ye 
found  it,  and  all  about  it.  I've  knowed 
him  ever  since  his  mustash  growed,  and 
before.  You  go  straight  to  him  !  He 's  in 
the  office  now." 

"  I  was  going  !  "  said  Mary,  simply.  "I 
thought  I'd  come  and  see  you  first,  Mr. 
Gregory,  you've  always  been  so  good  to 
mother  and  me.  You  —  you  couldn't 
manage  to  come  with  me,  could  you  ?  I 
am  afraid  of  Mr.  Gordon  ;  I  can't  help  it, 
though  he  is  always  pleasant  to  me." 

"  I'll  go  !  "  said  old  James,  with  alacrity. 
"  You  come  right  along  with  me  ! " 

In  his  eagerness  he  seized  Mary  by  the 
arm,  and  kept  his  hold  on  her  as  they 
passed  out  through  the  mill.  The  few 
•'  hands "  who  were  at  work  here  and 


BLUE   EGYPTIANS  51 

there  gazed  after  them  in  amazement ;  for 
the  old  man  was  dragging  the  girl  along 
as  if  he  had  caught  her  in  some  offence, 
and  was  going  to  deliver  her  up  to  justice. 

The  same  impression  was  made  in  the 
office,  when  the  pair  appeared  there.  The 
two  clerks  stared  open-mouthed,  and  judged 
after  their  nature ;  for  one  of  them  said, 
instantly,  to  himself,  "  It's  a  mistake  !  " 
while  the  other  said,  "  I  always  knew  that 
Denison  girl  was  too  pious  to  last !  " 

A  tall  man  who  sat  at  a  desk  in  the  cor 
ner  looked  up  quietly. 

"  Ah,  Gregory  !  "  he  said.  "  What  is  it  ? 
Mary  Denison  ?  Good  morning,  Mary ! 
Anything  wrong  in  the  rag-room?" 

Gregory  waved  his  hat  excitedly. 

"If  you'd  look  here,  sir!"  he  said. 
"  If  you  would  just  cast  your  eye  over  that 
article,  and  tell  this  gal  what  you  think  of 


52  THE    GREEN   SATIN   GOWN 

it !  Blue  Egyptians,  sir  !  luckiest  rags  that 
ever  come  into  this  mill,  I've  always  said. 
Well,  sir  ?  " 

Mr.  Gordon  was  not  easily  stirred  to 
excitement.  It  seemed  an  age  to  the 
anxious  girl  and  the  impetuous  old  man, 
as  he  turned  the  brooch  over  and  over, 
holding  it  up  in  every  light,  polishing  it, 
breathing  on  it,  then  polishing  it  again. 
Gregory's  hands  twitched  with  eagerness, 
and  Mary  felt  almost  faint  with  suspense. 

"  You  found  this  in  the  rags  ? "  he  asked 
at  length,  turning  to  Mary.  He  spoke  in 
his  ordinary  even  tone,  and  Mary's  heart 
sank,  she  could  not  have  told  why. 

"  Yes,  sir  !  "  she  faltered.  "  I  found  it 
in  a  blue  jacket.  It  was  in  between  the 
stuff  and  the  lining.  There  were  glass 
buttons  on  the  jacket." 

She    drew   them    from    her    pocket   and 


BLUE   EGYPTIANS  53 

held  them  out ;  but  Mr.  Gordon,  after  a 
glance,  waved  them  back. 

"Those  are  of  no  value!"  he  said. 
"  About  this  brooch,  I  am  not  so  sure. 
The  stones  may  be  real  stones  —  I  incline 
to  think  they  are ;  but  it  is  possible  that 
they  may  be  paste.  The  imitations  are 
sometimes  very  perfect ;  no  one  but  a 
jeweller  can  tell  positively.  I  will  take  it 
to  Boston  with  me  to-morrow,  and  have 
it  examined." 

He  dropped  the  brooch  into  a  drawer  at 
his  side,  turned  the  key  and  put  it  in  his 
pocket,  all  in  his  quiet,  methodical  way,  as 
if  he  were  in  the  habit  of  examining  dia 
mond  brooches  every  day ;  then  he  nodded 
kindly  to  the  pair,  and  bent  over  his  papers 
again. 

Mary  went  out  silently,  and  Gregory 
followed  her  with  a  dazed  look  on  his 


5 4  THE    GR EEX    S.  I  77  .V    < ,  0  II \\ 

strong  features.  He  looked  back  at  the 
door  two  or  three  times,  but  said  nothing 
till  they  were  back  in  the  finishing-room. 

Then  —  "  It's  one  of  his  days  !  "  he  said. 
"  I've  knowed  him  ever  since  his  mustash 
growed,  and  there's  days  when  he's  struck 
with  a  dumb  sperit,  just  like  Scriptur'. 
Don't  you  fret,  Mary !  He'll  see  you 
righted,  or  I'll  give  you  my  head." 

Mary  might  have  thought  that  Mr. 
Gregory's  head  would  be  of  little  use  to 
her  without  the  rest  of  him.  She  felt 
sadly  dashed  and  disappointed.  She 
hardly  knew  what  she  had  expected,  but 
it  was  something  very  different  from  this 
calm,  every-day  reception,  this  total  disre 
gard  of  her  own  and  her  companion's 
excitement. 

"  I  guess  he  thinks  they're  nothing 
great!"  she  said,  wearily.  "What  was 


BLUE   EGYPTIANS  55 

that  he  said  about  paste,  Mr.  Gregory  ? 
You  never  saw  any  paste  like  that,  did 
you?" 

"  No  !  "  said  Gregory,  "  I've  heered  of 
Di'mond  Glue,  but  'twan't  nothin'  like 
stones  —  nor  glass  neither.  You  may  run 
me  through  the  calenders  if  I  know  what 
he's  drivin'  at.  But  I'll  trust  him ! "  he 
added,  vehemently.  "  I  done  right  to  tell 
you  to  go  to  him.  He's  in  one  of  his 
moods  to-day,  but  you'll  hear  from  him, 
if  there's  anything  to  hear,  now  mark  my 
words !  And  now  I'd  go  home,  if  I 
was  you,  and  see  your  ma'am,  and  get 
your  dinner.  And  -  -  Mary  -  -  I  dono  as 
I'd  say  anything  about  this,  if  I  was 
you.  Things  get  round  so  in  a  mill,  ye 
know." 

Mary  nodded  assurance,  and  went  home, 
trying  to  feel  that  nothing  of  importance 


56  THE    GREEN   SATIN   GOWN 

had  happened.  Do  what  she  would,  how 
ever,  the  golden  visions  would  come  danc 
ing  before  her  eyes.  Suppose  —  suppose 
the  stones  should  be  real,  after  all !  and 
suppose  Mr.  Gordon  should  give  her  a  part, 
at  least,  of  the  money  they  might  bring  in 
Boston.  It  might  —  she  knew  diamonds 
were  valuable  —  it  might  be  thirty  or  forty 
dollars.  Oh !  how  rich  she  would  be ! 
The  rent  could  be  paid  some  time  in  ad 
vance,  and  her  mother  could  have  the  new 
shawl  she  needed  so  badly :  or  would  a 
cloak  be  better  ?  cloaks  were  more  in  fash 
ion,  but  Mother  said  a  good  shawl  was 
always  good  style. 

Turning  the  corner  by  her  mother's 
house,  she  met  one  of  the  clerks  who  had 
been  in  the  office  when  she  went  in  there. 
He  looked  at  her  with  the  smile  she  always 
disliked,  she  hardly  knew  why. 


BLUE   EGYPTIANS  5? 

"  You  did  the  wrong  thing  that  time, 
Miss  Denison  !  "  he  said. 

"  What  do  you  mean,  Mr.  Hitchcock  ?  " 
asked  Mary. 

"  You'll  never  see  your  diamonds  again, 
nor  the  money  for  them ! "  replied  the 
man.  "  That's  easy  guessing.  He'll  come 
back  and  tell  you  they're  glass  or  paste, 
and  that's  the  last  you'll  hear  of  them. 
And  the  diamonds  —  for  they  are  diamonds, 
right  enough  —  will  go  into  his  pocket,  or 
on  to  his  wife's  neck.  I  know  what's  what ! 
I  wasn't  born  down  in  these  parts." 

"  You  don't  know  Mr.  Gordon !  "  said 
Mary,  warmly.  "  That  isn't  the  way  he 
is  thought  of  by  those  who  do  know  him." 

The  clerk  was  a  newcomer  from  another 
State,  and  was  not  liked  by  the  mill-workers. 

"  I  know  his  kind ! "  he  said,  with  a 
sneer ;  "  and  they're  no  good  to  your  kind, 


58  THE    GREEN   SATIN    GOWN 

Mary  Denison,  nor  to  mine.  Mark  my 
words,  you'll  hear  no  more  of  that  breast 
pin." 

Mary  turned  away  so  decidedly  that  he 
said  no  more,  but  his  eyes  followed  her 
with  a  sinister  look. 

Next  moment  he  was  greeting  Lena 
Laxen  cordially,  and  she  was  dimpling  and 
smiling  all  over  at  his  compliments.  Lena 
thought  Mr.  Hitchcock  "just  elegant!" 
and  believed  that  Mary  was  jealous  when 
she  said  she  did  not  like  him.  Something 
now  prompted  her  to  tell  him  about  the 
silk  waist  in  the  forbidden  sack  ;  he  took 
her  view  at  once  and  zealously.  The  boss 
(for  he  did  not  use  the  kindly  title  of  "  Old 
Man,"  by  which  the  other  mill-hands  desig 
nated  Mr.  Gordon,  though  he  was  barely 
forty)  had  his  eye  on  the  things,  most 
likely,  as  he  had  on  the  pin  Mary  Denison 


BLUE   EGYPTIANS  59 

found.  Hadn't  Lena  heard  about  that? 
Well,  it  was  a  burning  shame,  he  could 
tell  her ;  he  would  see  that  she,  Lena, 
wasn't  fooled  that  way.  And  Lena,  listen 
ing  eagerly,  heard  a  story  very  different 
from  that  which  had  been  told  to  Mr. 
Gordon. 

In  an  hour  the  whole  mill  knew  that 
Mary  Denison  had  found  a  diamond  pin  in 
the  rags,  and  that  Mr.  Gordon  had  told 
her  it  was  nothing  but  hard  glue,  and  had 
sold  it  himself  in  Boston  for  a  thousand 
dollars,  and  spent  the  money  on  a  new 
horse. 

Nor  was  this  all !  Late  that  evening 
Lena  Laxen  stole  from  her  home  with  a 
shawl  over  her  head,  and  met  the  clerk 
by  the  corner  of  the  outer  shed.  A  few 
minutes  of  whispering  and  giggling,  and 
she  stole  back,  with  a  bundle  under  her 


60  THE    GREEN   SATIN   GOWN 

shawl ;  while  Hitchcock  tied  a  bright  silk 
handkerchief  round  his  neck,  and  strutted 
off  with  the  air  of  a  conqueror. 

Next  morning,  as  Mary  Denison  was 
going  to  her  work,  Lena  rapped  on  the 
window,  and  called  her  attention  by  signs 
to  the  bodice  she  had  on.  It  was  a  gay 
striped  silk,  little  worn,  but  still  showing, 
in  spite  of  pressing,  the  marks  of  crumpling 
and  tossing.  The  bright  colors  suited 
Lena's  dark  skin  well,  and  as  she  stood 
there  with  flushed  cheeks  and  sparkling 
eyes,  Mary  thought  she  had  never  seen 
her  look  prettier.  At  first  she  nodded  and 
smiled  in  approval ;  but  the  next  moment 
a  thought  darted  into  her  mind  that  made 
her  clasp  her  hands,  and  cry  anxiously : 

"  Oh  !  Lena,  you  didn't  do  it !  you  never 
did  it !  it's  not  that  waist  you  have  on  ?  " 

Lena  affected    not   to    hear.      She   only 


BLUE   EGYPTIANS  61 

nodded  and  laughed  triumphantly,  and 
turned  away,  leaving  Mary  standing  pale 
and  distressed  outside  the  window. 

Mary  hesitated.  Should  she  go  in  and 
reason  further  with  the  wilful  girl,  and  try 
to  persuade  her  to  restore  the  stolen  gar 
ment  ?  Something  told  her  it  would  be 
useless ;  but  still  she  was  on  the  point  of 
going  in,  when  old  James  Gregory  came 
by,  and  asked  her  to  walk  on  with  him. 

She  complied,  but  not  without  an  anxious 
look  back  at  the  window,  where  no  one 
was  now  to  be  seen. 

"Well,  May,"  said  Gregory,  "  how're  ye 
feelin'  to-day  ?  hearty  ?  that's  clever  !  I 
hope  you  wasn't  frettin'  about  that  pin  any. 
Most  girls  would,  but  you  ain't  the  fool 
kind." 

"  I  don't  know,  Mr.  Gregory !  "  said 
Mary,  laughing.  "  I'm  afraid  I  have 


62  THE    GREEN   SATIN   GOWN 

thought  about  it  more  or  less,  but  I 
haven't  been  fretting.  Where's  the  use  ?  " 

"  Jes'  so  !  jes'  so  !  "  assented  the  old 
man,  with  alacrity. 

"  And  I  didn't  say  anything  to  Mother," 
Mary  went  on.  "  I  didn't  want  her  to 
know  about  it  unless  something  was  really 
coming  of  it.  Poor  Mother  !  she  has  enough 
to  think  about." 

"  She  has  so  !  "  said  Gregory.  "  A  sight 
o'  thinkin'  your  mother  doos,  Mary,  and 
good  thoughts,  every  one  of  'em,  I'll  but 
my  next  pay.  She's  a  good  woman,  your 
mother ;  I  guess  likely  you  know  it  with 
out  me  sayin'  so.  I  call  Susan  Denison  the 
best  woman  I  know,  and  I've  told  my  wife 
so,  more  times  than  she  says  she  has  any 
occasion  for.  I  don't  say  she's  an  angel, 
but  she's  a  good  woman,  and  that's  as  fur 
as  we're  likely  to  get  in  this  world. 


BLUE   EGYPTIANS  63 

"  But  that  ain't  what  I  wanted  to  say  to 
you,  May  !  Somehow  or  'nother,  the  story's 
got  round  about  your  findin'  that  pin  yes 
terday.  You  didn't  say  nothin'  ?  " 

"  Not  a  word  !  "  said  Mary.  "  How 
could  it- 

"  'Twas  that  pison  Hitchcock,  I  expect !  " 
said  Gregory.  "  I  see  him  lookin'  up  with 
his  little  eyes,  as  red  as  a  ferret,  and  as 
ugly.  I  bet  he  started  the  hull  thing; 
and  he's  tacked  on  a  passel  of  lies,  and 
the  endurin'  place  is  huminin'  with  it. 
Thought  I'd  tell  ye  before  ye  went  in,  so's 
ye  could  fix  up  a  little  what  to  say." 

Mary  thanked  him  cordially,  and  passed 
on  into  the  mill :  the  old  man  looked  after 
her  with  a  very  friendly  glance  in  his  keen 
blue  eyes. 

"  She's  good  stuff,  May  is  ! "  he  mur 
mured.  "  Good  stuff,  like  her  mother. 


64  THE    GREEN   SATIN   GOWN 

Folks  is  like  rags,  however  you  look  at 
'em.  Take  a  good  linen  rag,  no  matter 
how  black  it  is,  and  put  it  through  the 
washers,  and  the  bleachers,  and  the  cutters, 
and  all  the  time  it's  gettin'  whiter  and 
whiter,  and  sweeter  and  sweeter,  the  more 
you  bang  it  round  ;  till  at  last  you  have 
bank-note  paper,  and  write  to  the  Queen  of 
England  on  it,  if  you're  a  mind  to,  and  she 
won't  have  none  better.  And  take  jute  or 
shoddy,  and  the  minute  you  touch  to  wash 
it,  it  cockles  up,  or  drops  to  pieces,  and  it 
ain't  no  good  to  mortal  man.  Jest  like 
folks,  I  tell  ye !  and  May  and  her  mother's 
pure  linen  clippin's,  if  ever  I  see  'em." 

Forewarned  is  forearmed,  and  Mary  met 
quietly  the  buzz  of  inquiry  that  greeted  her 
when  she  entered  the  rag-room.  The  girls 
crowded  round  her,  the  men  were  not  far 
behind.  To  each  and  all  Mary  told  the 


BLUE    EGYPTIANS  65 

simple  truth,  trying  not  to  say  a  word  too 
much.  "  The  tongue  is  a  fire  ! "  her 
mother's  favorite  text,  was  constantly  in 
her  mind,  and  she  was  determined  that  no 
ill  word  should  be  spoken  of  Mr.  Gordon, 
if  she  could  help  it.  Almost  every  one  in 
the  mill  liked  and  respected  the  "  Old 
Man ; "  but  the  human  mind  loves  a  sen 
sation,  and  Lena  and  Hitchcock  had  told 
their  story  so  vividly  the  day  before  that 
Mary's  account  seemed  tame  and  dull  be 
side  it ;  and  some  of  the  hands  preferred  to 
think  that  "  Maine  Denison  was  a  sly  one, 
and  warn't  goin'  to  let  on,  fear  some  one'd 
git  ahead  of  her." 

Lena,  who  came  shortly,  in  her  usual 
dress,  fostered  this  feeling,  not  from  malice, 
but  from  sheer  love  of  excitement  and  gos 
sip.  In  spite  of  Mary's  efforts,  the  excite 
ment  increased,  and  when,  late  in  the 


66  THE   GREEN   SATIN   GOWN 

afternoon,  word  came  that  Mary  Denison 
was  wanted  in  the  office,  the  rag-room  was 
left  fairly  bubbling  with  wild  surmise. 

Mr.  Gordon  did  not  see  Mary  when  she 
came  in.  He  was  standing  at  his  desk, 
with  an  open  letter  in  his  hand,  and  his 
face  was  disturbed  as  he  spoke  to  the 
senior  clerk. 

"  Myers,  it  is  as  I  feared  about  that  bag 
of  rags  from  Blankton.  You  have  kept  it 
carefully  tied  up,  and  close  by  the  chlorides, 
as  I  told  you  ?  " 

Myers,  a  clear-eyed,  honest-browed  man, 
looked  troubled. 

"I  did,  sir!"  he  said.  "I  have  looked 
at  the  bag  every  time  I  passed  that  way, 
and  have  cautioned  every  one  in  the  mill 
not  to  go  near  it,  besides  keeping  the  shed- 
gate  locked  ;  but  this  morning  I  found  that 
it  had  been  tampered  with,  and  evidently 


BLUE   EGYPTIANS  67 

something  taken  out.  I  hope  there  is  noth 
ing  wrong,  sir ! " 

George  Gordon  struck  his  hand  heavily 
on  the  desk,  "Wrong!"  he  repeated. 
"  There  have  been  two  fatal  cases  of  small 
pox  in  Blankton,  and  that  bag  has  been 
traced  to  the  house  where  they  were." 

There  was  a  moment  of  deathly  silence. 
He  went  on : 

"  I  suspected  something  wrong,  the  mo 
ment  you  told  me  of  things  that  looked 
new  and  good ;  but  I  did  not  want  to  raise 
a  panic  in  the  mill,  when  there  might  be 
some  other  explanation.  I  thought  I  had 
taken  every  precaution  —  what  is  that?" 

He  turned  quickly,  hearing  a  low  cry 
behind  him.  Mary  Denison  was  standing 
with  clasped  hands,  her  face  white  with 
terror. 

"  Mary ! "    said    Mr.  Gordon,   in  amaze- 


68  TJ1J-:    GREEN   SATIN    GOWN 

ment.     "  You  —  surely  you  have  had  noth 
ing  to  do  with  this  ? " 

"No,  sir!"  cried  Mary.     "Oh,  no,  Mr. 
Gordon,  indeed  I  have  not.     But  I  fear  — 
I  fear  I  know  who  has.     Oh,  poor  thing  ! 
poor  Lena ! " 

Then,  with  an  impulse  she  could  not  ex 
plain,  she  turned  suddenly  upon  Hitchcock. 

"  Who  let  Lena  Laxen  into  the  yard  last 
night  ?  "  she  cried.  "  She  could  not  have 
got  in  without  help.  You  had  a  key  — 
you  were  talking  to  her  after  I  left  her 
yesterday.  Oh  !  look  at  him,  Mr.  Gordon  ! 
Mr.  Myers,  look  at  that  man !  " 

But  Hitchcock  did  not  seem  to  hear  or 
heed  her.  He  sat  crouched  over  his  desk, 
his  face  a  greenish-gray  color,  his  eyes  star 
ing,  his  hands  clutching  the  woodwork  con 
vulsively  ;  an  awful  figure  of  terror,  that 
gasped  and  cowered  before  them.  Then 


BLUE    EGYPTIANS  69 

suddenly,  with  a  cry  that  rattled  in  his 
throat,  he  dashed  from  his  seat  and  ran 
bareheaded  out  of  the  door. 

Myers  started  up  to  pursue  him,  but  Mr. 
Gordon  held  up  his  hand. 

"  Let  him  go  !  "  he  said,  sternly.  "  It  may 
be  that  he  carries  his  punishment  with  him. 
In  any  case  we  shall  see  him  no  more." 

Quickly  and  quietly  he  gave  Myers  his 
orders ;  to  take  Lena  Laxen  to  her  home, 
notify  the  physician,  and  proclaim  a  strict 
quarantine  ;  to  burn  the  infected  rags  with 
out  loss  of  time ;  to  have  every  part  of  the 
shed  where  the  fatal  bag  had  stood  thor 
oughly  disinfected.  When  the  man  had 
hastened  away,  Mr.  Gordon  turned  to 
Mary,  and  his  stern  face  lightened. 

"Do  not  distress  yourself,  Mary,"  he 
said,  kindly.  "  It  may  be  that  Lena  will 
escape  the  infection ;  it  seems  that  she 


70  THE  GHEE*  s.iTiy  <;<n\\\ 

only  had  the  garment  on  a  few  minutes ; 
and  you  did  all  you  could,  I  am  sure,  to 
dissuade  her  from  this  piece  of  fatal  and 
dishonest  folly." 

"  Oh  !  I  might  have  said  more  !  "  cried 
Mary,  in  an  agony  of  self-reproach.  "  I 
meant  to  go  into  her  house  this  morning, 
and  try  to  make  her  hear  reason  ;  it  might 
not  have  been  too  late  then." 

"  Thank  Heaven  you  did  not !  "  said  Mr. 
Gordon,  gravely.  "  The  air  of  the  house 
was  probably  already  infected.  No  one 
save  the  doctor  must  go  near  that  house 
till  all  danger  of  the  disease  developing  is 
over." 

He  then  told  Mary  briefly  why  he  had 
sent  for  her.  Finding  that  he  could  not 
go  to  Boston  himself  at  present,  as  he  had 
planned,  he  had  sent  the  brooch  by  express 
to  a  jeweller  whom  he  knew,  and  would  be 


BLUE   EGYPTIANS  71 

able  to  tell  her  in  a  few  days  whether  it 
was  of  real  value  or  not.  Mary  thanked 
him,  but  his  words  fell  almost  unheeded  on 
her  ears.  What  were  jewels  or  money,  in 
the  face  of  a  danger  so  awful  as  that  which 
now  threatened  her  friend,  and,  through 
her,  the  whole  village  ? 

Days  of  suspense  followed.  From  the 
moment  when  the  weeping,  agonized  Lena 
was  taken  home  and  put,  tenderly,  pity 
ingly,  in  her  mother's  hands  (it  was  Mr. 
Gordon  himself  who  had  done  this,  refusing 
to  let  any  other  perform  the  duty),  an 
invisible  line  was  drawn  about  the  Laxen 
cottage,  which  few  dared  pass.  The  doctor 
•came  and  went,  reporting  all  well  to  the 
eager  questioners.  Mr.  Gordon  called  daily 
to  inquire,  and  every  evening  Mary  Deni- 
son  stole  to  the  door  with  a  paper  or  maga 
zine  for  Lena  and  her  mother,  or  some 


72  THE    GREEN   SATIN   GOWN 

home-made  delicacy  that  might  please  the 
imprisoned  girl.  Lena  was  usually  at  the 
window,  sometimes  defiant  and  blustering, 
sometimes  wild  with  fright,  sometimes 
again  crying  for  sheer  loneliness  and 
vexation ;  but  always  behind  her  was  her 
mother's  pale  face  of  dread,  and  her  thin 
voice  saying  that  Lena  was  '•  as  well  as 
common,  thank  ye,"  and  she  and  Mary 
would  exchange  glances,  and  Mary  would 
go  away  drawing  breath,  and  thanking  the 
Lord  that  another  day  was  gone. 

So  on,  for  nine  anxious  days ;  but  on  the 
tenth,  when  Mary  looked  up  at  the  window, 
the  mother  stood  there  alone,  crying ;  and 
the  doctor,  coming  out  of  the  house  at  the 
moment,  told  Mary  harshly  to  keep  away 
from  him,  and  not  to  come  so  near  the 
house. 

In  the  dreadful  days  that  followed,  his 


BLUE    EGYPTIANS  73 

people  learned  to  know  George  Gordon  as 
they  had  never  known  him  before.  The 
grave,  silent  man,  who  never  spoke  save 
when  speech  was  necessary,  was  now  among 
them  every  day,  going  from  room  to  room 
with  cheerful  greetings,  encouraging,  heart 
ening,  raising  the  drooping  spirits,  and 
rebuking  sharply  the  croakers,  who  fore 
told  with  dismal  unction  a  general  epidemic. 
While  taking  every  possible  precaution,  he 
made  light  of  the  actual  danger,  and  by 
his  presence  and  influence  warded  off  the 
panic  which  might  have  brought  about 
the  dreaded  result. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  there  were  no  more 
cases  in  the  mill ;  and  Lena  herself  had  the 
terrible  disease  more  lightly  than  any  one 
had  dared  to  hope.  The  doctor,  hurrying 
through  back  ways  and  alleys  to  change 
his  clothes  and  take  his  bath  of  disinfect- 


74  THE    GREEN   SA  TIN    (SOWN 

ants,  was  hailed  from  back  gates  and  win 
dows  at  every  step ;  and  he  never  failed  to 
return  a  cheery  "  Doing  well !  out  of  it 
soon  now  !  No,  not  much  marked,  only 
a  few  spots  here  and  there." 

This  was  when  he  left  the  quarantined 
house ;  but  when  he  sought  it,  he  might  be 
seen  to  stop  at  one  gate  and  another,  pick 
ing  up  here  a  jar,  there  a  bowl,  here  again 
a  paper  bag ;  till  by  the  time  he  reached 
the  Laxen  gate  he  stood  out  all  over  with 
packages  like  a  summer  Santa  Glaus. 

"  There  ain't  anybody  goin'  to  starve 
round  here,  if  they  have  got  the  smallpox  !  " 
was  the  general  verdict,  voiced  by  James 
Gregory,  and  when  he  added,  for  the 
benefit  of  the  mill-yard,  that  he  had  heard 
Mr.  Gordon  order  ice-cream,  oranges,  and 
oysters,  all  at  once,  for  Lena,  a  growl  of 
pleasure  went  round,  which  deepened  into 


BLUE    EGYPTIANS  75 

a  hearty  "  What's  the  matter  with  the  Old 
Man?  he's&U  right!" 

At  length,  one  happy  day,  Mary  Denison 
met  Mr.  Gordon  at  the  Laxens'  gate,  and 
heard  the  good  news  that  Lena  was  sitting 
up ;  that  in  a  day  or  two  now  the  quaran 
tine  would  be  taken  off,  the  house  disin 
fected,  and  Lena  back  in  her  place  at  the 
mill.  The  manager  looked  with  satisfac 
tion  at  Mary's  beaming  face  of  happiness ; 
then,  as  she  was  turning  away  to  spread 
the  good  tidings,  he  said  : 

"  Wait  a  moment,  Mary  !  I  have  some 
other  news  for  you.  Have  you  forgotten 
the  brooch  that  you  found  in  the  Blue 
Egyptians  ?  " 

The  color  rushed  to  Mary's  face,  and 
Mr.  Gordon  had  his  answer. 

"  Because,"  he  added,  "  I  have  not  for 
gotten,  though  you  might  well  think  I  had 


76  THE    GREEN   SATIN    GOWN 

done  so.  All  this  sad  business  has  delayed 
matters,  but  now  I  have  it  all  arranged.  I 
am  ready  to-day,  Mar}',  to  give  you  either 
the  brooch  itself,  or  —  what  I  think  will 
be  better  —  five  hundred  dollars,  the  sum  I 
find  it  to  be  worth.  Yes,  my  child,  I  am 
speaking  the  truth !  The  stones  are  fine 
ones,  and  the  Boston  jeweller  offers  you 
that  sum  for  them.  Well,  Mary,  have 
you  nothing  to  say  ?  What,  crying  ?  this 
will  never  do  !  " 

But  Mary  had  nothing  to  say,  and  she 
was  crying,  because  she  could  not  help  it. 
Presently  she  managed  to  murmur  some 
thing  about  "  Too  much  !  too  great  kind 
ness —  not  fair  for  her  to  have  it  all !  "  but 
Mr.  Gordon  cut  her  short. 

"Certainly  you  are  to  have  it  all,  every 
penny  of  it !  Finding's  having !  that  is 
paper-mill  law ;  ask  James  Gregory  if  it 


BLUE   EGYPTIANS  77 

is  not !  There  comes  James  this  moment ; 
go  and  tell  him  of  your  good  fortune,  and 
let  him  bring  you  up  to  my  house  this 
evening  to  get  the  money. 

"But,  Mary," — he  glanced  at  a  letter 
in  his  hand,  and  his  face,  which  had  been 
bright  with  kindness  and  pleasure,  grew 
very  grave,  — "  there  is  something  else  for 
you  to  tell  James,  and  all  the  hands.  James 
Hitchcock  died  yesterday,  of  malignant 
smallpox ! " 


LITTLE   BENJAMIN 


LITTLE  BENJAMIN 

"Then  is  little  Benjamin  their  ruler." 

"I  THINK  the  kitty  wants  to  come  in," 
said  Mother  Golden.  "  I  hear  him  crying 
somewhere.  Won't  you  go  and  let  him  in, 
Adam?" 

Adam  laid  down  his  book  and  went  out ; 
the  whole  family  looked  up  cheerfully,  ex 
pecting  to  see  Aladdin,  the  great  Maltese 
cat,  enter  with  his  stately  port.  There 
was  a  pause ;  then  Adam  came  back  with 
a  white,  scared  face,  and  looked  at  his 
father  without  speaking. 

"  What  is  the  matter,  my  son  ? "  asked 
Father  Golden. 

81 


82  THE    GREEN   SATIN   GOWN 

"  Is  Kitty  hurt  ?  "  asked  Mother  Golden, 
anxiously. 

"Was  it  that  dog  of  Jackson's?"  cried 
Lemuel,  Mary,  Ruth,  and  Joseph. 

"  The  cat  isn't  there ! "  said  Adam. 
"  It's  —  it's  a  basket,  father." 

"  A  basket  ?    What  does  the  boy  mean  ?  " 

"A  long  basket,  with  something  white 
inside;  and  —  it's  crying!" 

The  boy  had  left  the  door  open,  and  at 
this  moment  a  sound  came  through  it,  a 
long,  low,  plaintive  cry. 

"  My  heart !  "  said  Mother  Golden  ;  and 
she  was  out  of  the  door  in  a  flash*. 

"  See  there  now !  "  said  Father  Golden, 
reprovingly.  "Your  mother's  smarter  than 
any  of  you  to-day.  Go  and  help  her,  some 
of  you ! " 

The  children  tumbled  headlong  toward 
the  door,  but  were  met  by  Mother  Golden 


"'A     LONC    HASKKT    WITH     SOM  F.TII  I  N<;     WHITE     INSIDK. 
AM>  —  IT'S     CKYINCi   !  '  ' 


LITTLE   BENJAMIN  83 

returning,  bearing  in  her  strong  arms  a 
long  basket,  in  which  was  indeed  some 
thing  white  and  fluffy  that  cried. 

"  A  baby  !  "  exclaimed  Father  Golden. 

"  A  baby !  "  echoed  Mary,  Lemuel,  Ruth, 
and  Joseph. 

"  Well,  I  knew  it  was  a  baby,"  protested 
Adam ;  "  but  I  didn't  like  to  say  so." 

Mother  Golden  lifted  the  child  out  and 
held  it  in  a  certain  way ;  the  cries  ceased, 
and  the  little  creature  nestled  close  against 
her  and  looked  up  in  her  face. 

"  My  heart !  "  said  Mother  Golden  again. 
"  Come  here,  girls  !  " 

The  girls  pressed  forward  eagerly ;  the 
boys  hung  back,  and  glanced  at  their 
father ;  these  were  women's  matters. 

"  It's  got  hair !  "  cried  Ruth,  in  rapture. 
"  Mother !  real  hair,  and  it  curls ;  see  it 
curl ! " 


84  TUK    UREEX   SATIN   (!U\VN 

"Look  at  its  little  hands!"  murmured 
Mary.  "  They're  like  pink  shells,  only 
soft.  Oh  !  see  it  move  them,  Ruth  !  "  She 
caught  her  sister's  arm  in  a  sudden  move 
ment  of  delight. 

"  Oh,  mother,  mayn't  we  keep  it  ? " 
cried  both  girls  at  once. 

Mother  Golden  was  examining  the 
baby's  clothes. 

"  Cambric  slip,  line  enough,  but  not  so 
terrible  fine.  Flannel  blanket,  machine- 
embroidered —  stop!  here's  a  note." 

She  opened  a  folded  paper,  and  read  a 
few  words,  written  in  a  carefully  rough 
hand. 

"  His  mother  is  dead,  his  father  a  waif. 
Ask  the  woman  with  the  kind  eyes  to  take 
care  of  him,  for  Christ's  sake." 

"  My  heart !  "  said  Mother  Golden,  again. 

"  It's  a  boy,  then  !  "  said  Father  Golden, 


LITTLE   BENJAMIN  85 

brightening  perceptibly.  He  came  forward, 
the  boys  edging  forward  too,  encouraged 
by  another  masculine  presence. 

"  It's  a  boy,  and  a  beauty  !  "  said  Mother 
Golden,  wiping  her  eyes.  "I  never  see  a 
prettier  child.  Poor  mother,  to  have  to 
go  and  leave  him.  Father,  what  do  you 
say?" 

"  It's  for  you  to  say,  mother ; "  said 
Father  Golden.  "  It's  to  you  the  child 
was  sent." 

"  Do  you  suppose  'twas  me  that  was 
meant?  They  might  have  mistaken  the 
house." 

"  Don't  talk  foolishness  !  "  said  Father 
Golden.  "  The  question  is,  what  shall  we 
do  with  it  ?  There's  places,  a  plenty, 
where  foundlings  have  the  best  of  bring 
ing  up ;  and  you've  got  care  enough,  as  it 
is,  mother,  without  taking  on  any  more." 


86  THE   GREEN   SATIN   GOWN 

"  Oh!  we  could  help !  "  cried  Mary.  "  I 
could  wash  and  dress  it,  I  know  I  could, 
and  I'd  just  love  to." 

"So  could  I !  "  said  twelve-year-old  Ruth. 
"We'd  take  turns,  Mary  and  I.  Do  let's 
keep  it,  mother  !  " 

"  It's  a  great  responsibility !  "  said  Father 
Golden. 

"  Great  Jemima  !  "  said  Mother  Golden, 
with  a  sniff.  "  If  I  couldn't  take  the  re 
sponsibility  of  a  baby,  I'd  give  up." 

Father  Golden's  mind  moved  slowly,  and 
while  he  was  meditating  a  reply,  his  wife 
issued  various  commands,  and  went  through 
some  intricate  feminine  manoeuvres,  with 
the  effect  of  increased  fluffiness  on  the 
baby's  part.  In  five  minutes  she  was 
feeding  the  child  with  warm  milk  from  a 
spoon,  and  proclaiming  that  he  ate  "  like 
a  Major ! " 


LITTLE    BENJAMIN  87 

The  boys,  gaming  more  and  more  con 
fidence,  were  now  close  at  her  knee,  and 
watched  the  process  with  eager  eyes. 

"  He's  swallering  like  anything !  "  cried 
Lemuel.  "  I  can  see  him  do  it  with  his 
throat,  same  as  anybody." 

"  See  him  grab  the  spoon  !  "  said  Joseph. 
"  My !  ain't  he  strong  ?  Can  he  talk, 
mother  ?  " 

"  Joe,  you  chuckle-head  !  "  said  Adam, 
who  was  sixteen,  and  knew  most  things. 
"  How  can  he  talk,  when  he  hasn't  got  any 
teeth?" 

"  Uncle  'Rastus  hasn't  got  any  teeth," 
retorted  Joseph,  "  and  he  talks  like  a  buzz- 
saw." 

"  Hush,  Joseph  !  "  said  Mother  Golden, 
reprovingly.  "  Your  Uncle  'Rastus  is  a 
man  of  years." 

"Yes,  mother!"  said  Joseph,  meekly. 


88  THE    GREEN   SATIN   GOWN 

"  Baby  has  got  a  tooth,  too,  Adam ! " 
Mother  Golden  continued,  triumphantly. 
"  I  feel  it  pricking  through  the  gum  this 
minute.  And  he  so  good,  and  laughing 
like  a  sunflower!  Did  it  hurt  him,  then, 
a  little  precious  man  ?  he  shall  have  a 
nice  ring  to-morrow  day,  to  bitey  on,  so 
he  shall ! " 

"  I  suppose,  then,  he  must  be  as  much 
as  a  week  old,"  hazarded  Adam,  in  an  off 
hand  tone.  "  They  are  never  born  with 
teeth,  are  they,  unless  they  are  going  to  be 
Richard  the  Thirds,  or  something  wonder 
ful?" 

"Perhaps  he  is!"  said  Ruth.  "He 
looks  wonderful  enough  for  Richard  the 
Twentieth,  or  anything." 

But  — "A  week  old!"  said  Mother 
Golden.  "  It's  time  there  was  a  baby  in 
this  house,  if  you  don't  know  better  than 


LITTLE   BENJAMIN  89 

that,  Adam.  About  six  months  old  I  call 
him,  and  as  pretty  a  child  as  ever  I  saw, 
even  my  own." 

She  looked  half-defiantly  at  Father  Gol 
den,  who  returned  the  look  with  one  of 
mild  deprecation. 

"  I  was  only  thinking  of  the  care  'twould 
be  to  you,  mother,"  he  said.  "  We're 
bound  to  make  inquiries,  and  report  the 
case,  and  so  forth ;  but  if  nothing  comes 
of  that,  we  might  keep  the  child  for  a 
spell,  and  see  how  things  turn  out." 

"  That's  what  I  was  thinking ! "  said 
Mother  Golden,  eagerly.  "  I  was  thinking 
anyway,  Joel,  'twould  be  best  to  keep  him 
through  his  teething  and  stomach  troubles, 
and  give  him  a  good  start  in  the  way  of 
proper  food  and  nursing.  At  them  homes 
and  nurseries,  they  mean  well,  but  the 
most  of  them's  young,  and  they  dorit 


90  THE    GREEN   SATIN    GOWN 

understand  a  child's  stomach.  It's  expe 
rience  they  need,  not  good-will,  I'm  well 
aware.  Of  course,  when  Baby  begun  to  be 
a  boy,  things  might  be  different.  You 
work  hard  enough  as  it  is,  father,  and 
there's  places,  no  doubt,  could  do  better 
for  him,  maybe,  than  what  we  could. 
But  —  well,  seeing  whose  name  he  come 
in,  I  do  feel  to  see  him  through  his 
teething." 

"Children,  what  do  you  say?"  asked 
Father  Golden.  "  You're  old  enough  to 
have  your  opinion,  even  the  youngest  of 

you." 

"  Oh,  keep  him  !  keep  him  !  "  clamored 
the  three  younger  children. 

Adam  and  Lemuel  exchanged  a  glance 
of  grave  inquiry. 

"  I  guess  he'd  better  stay,  father  !  "  said 
Adam. 


LITTLE   BENJAMIN  9] 

"I  think  so,  too!"  said  Lemuel;  and 
both  gave  something  like  a  sigh  of  relief. 

"Then     that's     settled,"    said     Father 
Golden,   "  saying   and   supposing   that   no 
objection  turns  up.      Next  thing  is,  what   ' 
shall  we  call  this  child  ?  " 

All  eyes  were  fixed  on  the  baby,  who, 
now  full  of  warm  milk,  sat  throned  on 
Mother  Golden's  knee,  blinking  content. 

It  was  a  pretty  picture :  the  rosy, 
dimpled  creature,  the  yellow  floss  ruffled 
all  over  his  head,  his  absurd  little  mouth 
open  in  a  beaming  smile ;  beaming  above 
him,  Mother  Golden's  placid  face  in  its 
frame  of  silver  hair;  fronting  them,  Father 
Golden  in  his  big  leather  chair,  solid,  com 
fortable,  benevolent ;  and  the  five  children, 
their  honest,  sober  faces  lighted  up  with 
unusual  excitement.  A  pleasant,  homelike 
picture.  Nothing  remarkable  in  the  way 


92  THE   GREEX  SATIN   GOWN 

of  setting ;  the  room,  with  its  stuffed 
chairs,  its  tidies,  and  cabinet  organ,  was 
only  unlike  other  such  rooms  from  the 
fact  that  Mother  Golden  habitually  sat  in 
it ;  she  could  keep  even  haircloth  from 
being  commonplace.  But  now,  all  the 
light  in  the  room  seemed  to  centre  on  the 
yellow  flossy  curls  against  her  breast. 

"  A-goo ! "  said  the  baby,  in  a  winning 
gurgle. 

"  He  says  his  name's  Goo  !  "  announced 
Joseph. 

"  Don't  be  a  chuckle-head,  Joe  !  "  said 
Adam.  "  What  was  the  name  on  the 
paper,  mother?" 

"  It  said  '  his  father  is  a  Waif ; '  but  I 
don't  take  that  to  be  a  Christian  name. 
Surname,  more  likely,  shouldn't  you  say, 
father?" 

"  Not  a  Christian  name,  certainly,"  said 


LITTLE   BENJAMIN  93 

Feather  Golden.  "  Not  much  of  a  name 
anyhow,  'pears  to  me.  We'd  better  give 
the  child  a  suitable  name,  mother,  saying 
and  supposing  no  objection  turns  up. 
Coming  into  a  Christian  family,  let  him 
have  Christian  baptism,  I  say." 

"Oh,  call  him  Arthur!" 

«  Bill !  " 

"  Richard !  " 

"Charlie!" 

"  Reginald ! "  cried  the  children  in 
chorus. 

"  I  do  love  a  Bible  name  ! "  said  Mother 
Golden,  pensively.  "  It  gives  a  child  a 
good  start,  so  to  say,  and  makes  him  think 
when  he  hears  himself  named,  or  ought  so 
to  do.  All  our  own  children  has  Bible 
names,  father ;  don't  let  us  cut  the  little 
stranger  off  from  his  privilege." 

"  But    Bible    names   are   so   ugly ! "    ob- 


94  THE    GREEN   SATIN   GOWN 

jected  Lemuel,  who  was  sensitive,  and 
suffered  under  his  own  cognomen. 

"Son,"  said  Father  Golden,  "your 
mother  chooses  the  names  in  this  family." 

"  Yes,  father  !  "  said  Lemuel. 

"  Lemuel,  dear,  you  was  named  for  a 
king !  "  said  Mother  Golden.  "  He  was  a 
good  boy  to  his  mother,  and  so  are  you. 
Bring  the  Bible,  and  let  us  see  what  it 
opens  at.  Joseph,  you  are  the  youngest, 
you  shall  open  it." 

Joseph  opened  the  great  browrn  leather 
Bible,  and  closing  his  eyes,  laid  his  hand 
on  the  page  ;  then  looking  down,  he  read  : 

" '  There  is  little  Benjamin  their  ruler, 
and  the  princes  of  Judah  their  council  : 
the  princes  of  Zebulun  and  the  princes  of 
Nephtali.'  " 

"Zebulun  and  Nephtali  are  outlandish- 
sounding  names,"  said  Mother  Golden. 


LITTLE   BENJAMIN  95 

"  I  never  knew  but  one  Nephtali,  and  he 
squinted.  Benjamin  shall  be  this  child's 
name.  Little  Benjamin :  the  Lord  bless 
and  keep  him  !  " 

"  Amen  !  "  said  Father  Golden. 

PART    II. 

"  Father,  may  I  come  in,  if  you  are  not 
busy?" 

It  was  Mary  who  spoke  ;  Mary,  the  dear 
eldest  daughter,  now  a  woman  grown, 
grave  and  mild,  trying  hard  to  fill  the 
place  left  empty  these  two  years,  since 
Mother  Golden  went  smiling  out  of  life. 

Father  Golden  looked  up  from  his  book ; 
he  was  an  old  man  now,  but  his  eyes  were 
still  young  and  kind. 

"What  is  it,  daughter  Mary  ?" 

"  The  same  old  story,  father  dear  ;  Benny 
in  mischief  again.  This  time  he  has  rubbed 


96  THE    GREEN   SATIN    GOWN 

soot  on  all  the  door-handles,  and  the  whole 
house  is  black  with  it.  I  hate  to  trouble 
you,  father,  but  I  expect  you'll  have  to 
speak  to  him.  I  do  love  the  child  so,  I'm 
not  strict  enough  —  I'm  ashamed  to  say  it, 
but  they  all  think  so,  and  I  know  it's  true 
—  and  Adam  is  too  strict." 

"  Yes,  Adam  is  too  strict,"  said  Father 
Golden.  He  looked  at  a  portrait  that  stood 
on  his  desk,  a  framed  photograph  of 
Mother  Golden. 

"I'll  speak  to  the  child,  Mary,"  he  said. 
u  I'll  see  that  this  does  not  happen  again. 
What  is  it,  Ruthie  ?  " 

"  I  was  looking  for  Mary,  father.  I 
wanted  —  oh,  Mary  !  what  shall  I  do  with 
Benny  ?  he  has  tied  Rover  and  the  cat 
together  by  their  tails,  and  they  are  rush 
ing  all  about  the  garden  almost  crazy.  I 
must  finish  this  work,  so  I  can't  attend  to 


LITTLE   BENJAMIN  97 

it.  He  says  he  is  playing  Samson.  I 
wish  you  would  speak  to  him,  father." 

"  I  will  do  so,  Ruth,  I  will  do  so.  Don't 
be  distressed,  my  daughter." 

"  But  he  is  so  naughty,  father !  he  is  so 
different  from  the  other  boys.  Joe  never 
used  to  play  such  tricks  when  he  was 
little." 

"  The  spring  vacation  will  be  over  soon 
now,  Ruth,"  said  Sister  Mary.  "  He  is 
always  better  when  he  is  at  work,  and 
there  is  so  little  for  a  boy  to  do  just  at  this 
time  of  year." 

"  I  left  Joe  trying  to  catch  the  poor  crea 
tures,"  said  Ruth.  "  Here  he  comes  now." 

Joe,  a  tall  lad  of  seventeen,  entered  with 
a  face  of  tragedy. 

"  Any  harm  done,  Joseph  ? "  asked 
Father  Golden,  glancing  at  the  portrait 
on  his  desk. 


98          THE  aiiEEX  SATIX  mnvx 

"  It's  that  kid  again,  father !  "  said  Joe. 
"Poor  old  Rover  —  " 

"  Father  knows  about  that,  Joe  !  "  said 
Mary,  gently. 

"  Did  you  get  them  apart  ?  "  cried  Ruth. 

"  Yes,  I  did,  but  not  till  they  had 
smashed  most  of  the  glass  in  the  kitchen 
windows,  and  trampled  all  over  Mary's 
geraniums.  Something  has  got  to  be  done 
about  that  youngster,  father.  He's  getting 
to  be  a  perfect  nuisance." 

"  I  am  thinking  of  doing  something 
about  him,  son  Joseph,"  said  Father 
Golden.  "Are  your  brothers  in  the 
house?" 

"  I  think  I  heard  them  come  in  just  now, 
sir.  Do  you  want  to  see  them  ?  " 

Apparently  Adam  and  Lemuel  wanted  to 
see  their  father,  for  they  appeared  in  the 
doorway  at  this  moment :  quiet-looking 


LITTLE   BENJAMIN  99 

men,  with  grave,  "  set "  faces ;  the  hair 
already  beginning  to  edge  away  from  their 
temples. 

"  You  are  back  early  from  the  office, 
boys  !  "  said  Father  Golden. 

"  We  came  as  soon  as  we  got  the  mes 
sage,"  said  Adam.  "  I  hope  nothing  is 
wrong,  father." 

"  What  message,  Adam  ?  " 

"  Didn't  you  send  for  us  ?  Benny  came 
running  in,  all  out  of  breath,  and  said  you 
wished  to  see  us  at  once.  If  he  has  been 
playing  tricks  again  — 

Adam's  grave  face  darkened  into  stern 
ness.  The  trick  was  too  evident. 

"  Something  must  be  done  about  that 
boy,  father  !  "  he  said.  "  He  is  the  torment 
of  the  whole  family." 

"  No  one  can  live  a  day  in  peace  !  "  said 
Lemuel. 


1UO  Till-:    UllKEX    SAT IX    <i<>\\\\ 

"  No  dumb  creature's  life  is  safe  !  "  said 
Joe. 

"  He  breaks  everything  be  lays  bands 
on,"  said  Ruth,  ''and  he  won't  keep  bis 
hands  off  anything." 

"  You  were  all  little  once,  boys ! "  said 
Mary. 

<k  We  never  behaved  in  this  kind  of 
way ! "  said  the  brothers,  sedate  from 
their  cradles.  '"  Something  must  be 
done  ! " 

"  You  are  right,"  said  Father  Golden. 
"  Something  must  be  done." 

Glancing  once  more  at  the  portrait  of 
Mother  Golden,  he  turned  and  faced  his 
children  with  grave  looks. 

"  Sit  down,  sons  and  daughters  !  "  said 
the  old  man.  "I  have  something  to  say 
to  you." 

The    young    people    obeyed,    wondering, 


LITTLE   BENJAMIN  101 

but  not  questioning.  Father  Golden  was 
head  of  the  house. 

^  You  all  come  to  me,"  said  Father 
Golden,  "  with  complaints  of  little  Ben 
jamin.  It  is  singular  that  you  should  come 
to-day,  for  I  have  been  waiting  for  this  day 
to  speak  to  you  about  the  child  myself." 

He  paused  for  a  moment;  then  added, 
weighing  his  words  slowly,  as  was  his 
wont  when  much  in  earnest,  "  Ten  years 
ago  to-day,  that  child  was  left  on  our 
door-step." 

The  brothers  and  sisters  uttered  an  ex 
clamation,  half  surprised,  half  acquiescent. 

"  It  doesn't  seem  so  long !  "  said  Adam. 

"  It  seems  longer  !  "  said  Mary. 

"  I  keep  forgetting  he  came  that  way !  " 
murmured  Joe. 

"  I  felt  doubtful  about  taking  him  in," 
Father  Golden  went  on.  "  But  your  mother 


102  TllK    67e/i/i\V    .S.177.V    (;<>}\'.\ 

wished  it ;  you  all  wished  it.  We  decided 
to  keep  him  for  a  spell,  and  give  him  a 
good  start  in  life,  and  we  have  kept  him 
till  now." 

'•  Of  course  we  have  kept  him!"  said 
Ruth. 

"  Naturally  !  "  said  Lemuel. 

Adam  and  Mary  said  nothing,  but  looked 
earnestly  at  their  father. 

"  Little  Benjamin  is  now  ten  years  old, 
more  or  less,"  said  Father  Golden.  "  You 
are  men  and  women  grown  ;  even  Joseph 
is  seventeen.  Your  mother  has  entered 
into  the  rest  that  is  reserved  for  the  people 
of  God,  and  I  am  looking  forward  in  the 
hope  that,  not  through  any  merit  of  mine, 
but  the  merciful  grace  of  God,  I  may  soon 
be  called  to  join  her.  Adam  and  Lemuel, 
you  are  settled  in  the  business,  and  looking 
forward  to  making  homes  of  your  own 


LITTLE    UKXJAMIX  103 

with  worthy  young  women.  Joseph  is 
going  to  college,  which  is  a  new  thing  in 
our  family,  but  one  I  approve,  seeing  his 
faculty  appears  to  lie  that  way.  Ruth  will 
make  a  first-rate  dressmaker,  I  am  told 
by  those  who  know.  Mary  —  " 

His  quiet  voice  faltered.  Mary  took  his 
hand  and  kissed  it  passionately;  a  sob 
broke  from  her,  and  she  turned  her  face 
away  from  the  brothers  and  sister  who 
loved  but  did  not  understand  her.  They 
looked  at  her  with  grave  compassion,  but 
no  one  would  have  thought  of  interrupting 
Father  Golden. 

"  Mary,  you  are  the  home-maker,"  the 
old  man  went  on.  "  I  hope  that  when 
I  am  gone  this  home  will  still-  be  here, 
with  you  at  the  head  of  it.  You  are  your 
mother's  own  daughter  ;  there  is  no  more 
to  say." 


104  THE    GREEN   SATIN   GOWN 

He  was  silent  for  a  time,  and  then 
continued. 

"  There  remains  little  Benjamin,  a  child 
of  ten  years.  He  is  no  kin  to  us ;  an  or 
phan,  or  as  good  as  one ;  no  person  has 
ever  claimed  him,  or  ever  will.  The  time 
has  come  to  decide  what  shall  be  done  with 
the  child." 

Again  he  paused,  and  looked  around. 
The  serious  young  faces  were  all  intent 
upon  him ;  in  some,  the  intentness  seemed 
deepening  into  trouble,  but  no  one  spoke 
or  moved. 

"  We  have  done  all  that  we  undertook 
to  do  for  him,  that  night  we  took  him  in, 
and  more.  We  have  brought  him — I 
should  say  your  mother  brought  him  — 
through  his  sickly  days ;  we  'most  lost 
him,  you  remember,  when  lie  was  two 
years  old,  with  the  croup  —  and  he  is  now 


LITTLE   BENJAMIN  105 

a  healthy,  hearty  child,  and  will  likely 
make  a  strong  man.  He  has  been  well 
treated,  well  fed  and  clothed,  maybe  better 
than  he  would  have  been  by  his  own  par 
ents  if  so't  had  been.  He  is  turning  out 
wild  and  mischievous,  though  he  has  a 
good  heart,  none  better ;  and  you  all,  ex 
cept  Mary,  come  to  me  with  complaints  of 
him. 

"  Now,  this  thing  has  gone  far  enough. 
One  of  two  things  :  either  this  boy  is  to  be 
sent  away  to  some  institution,  to  take  his 
place  among  other  orphans  and  foundlings, 
or — he  must  be  one  of  you  for  now  and 
always,  to  share  alike  with  you  while  I 
live,  to  be  bore  with  and  helped  by  each 
and  every  one  of  you  as  if  he  was  your 
own  blood,  and  to  have  his  share  of  the 
property  when  I  am  gone.  Sons  and 
daughters,  this  question  is  for  you  to  decide. 


106  THE    GREEN   SATIN    (1OWX 

I  shall  say  nothing.  My  life  is  'most  over, 
yours  is  just  beginning.  I  have  no  great 
amount  to  leave  you,  but  'twill  be  comfort 
able  so  far  as  it  goes.  Benjamin  has  one- 
sixth  of  that,  and  becomes  my  own  son, 
to  be  received  and  treated  by  you  as  your 
own  brother,  or  he  goes." 

Mary  hid  her  face  in  her  hands.  Adam 
walked  to  the  window  and  looked  out ;  but 
the  other  three  broke  out  into  a  sudden, 
hurried  clamor,  strangely  at  variance  with 
their  usual  staid  demeanor. 

"  Oh,  father,  we  couldn't  let  him  go !  " 

"  Why,  father,  I  can't  think  what  you 
mean  ! " 

"  I'm  sure,  sir,  we  never  thought  of  such 
a  thing  as  sending  him  away.  Why,  he's 
our  Ben." 

"  Good  enough  little  kid,  only  mis 
chievous." 


LITTLE   BENJAMIN  107 

"  Needs  a  little  governing,  that's  all. 
Mary  spoils  him ;  no  harm  in  him,  not  a 
mite." 

"  And  the  lovingest  little  soul !  the 
minute  he  found  that  Kitty's  paw  was 
cut,  he  sat  down  and  cried  — " 

"  I  guess  if  Benny  went,  I'd  go  after  him 
pretty  quick  !  "  said  Joseph,  who  had  been 
loudest  in  his  complaint  against  the  child. 

Mary  looked  up  and  smiled  through  her 
tears.  "  Joe,  your  heart  is  in  the  right 
place  !  "  she  said.  "  I  finished  your  shirts 
this  morning,  dear ;  I'm  going  to  begin  on 
your  slippers  to-night." 

"Well,  but,  father  —  " 

"Father  dear,  about  little  Benny  —  " 

"  Yes,  sir  —  poor  little  Ben !  " 

"  Go  easy  !  "  said  Father  Golden  ;  and 
his  face,  as  he  looked  from  one  to  the 
other,  was  as  bright  as  his  name. 


108  THE    GREEX  SATIN   GOWX 

"  Why,  children,  you're  real  excited.  I 
don't  want  excitement,  nor  crying  —  Mary, 
daughter,  I  knew  how  you  would  feel,  any 
way.  I  want  a  serious  word,  '  go,'  or 
*  stay,'  from  each  one  of  you ;  a  word  that 
will  last  your  lives  long.  I'll  begin  with  the 
youngest,  because  that  was  your  mother's 
way.  She  always  said  the  youngest  was 
nearest  heaven.  Joseph,  what  is  your 
word  about  little  Benjamin  ?  " 

"Stay,  of  course!"  cried  Joe.  "Benny 
does  tease  me,  but  I  should  be  nowhere 
without  him." 

"  Ruth !  you  seemed  greatly  tried  just 
now.  Think  what  you  are  going  to  say." 

"  Oh,  of  course  he  must  stay,  father. 
Why,  the  child  is  the  life  of  the  house. 
We  are  all  so  humdrum  and  mopy,  I  don't 
know  what  we  should  do  without  Benny 
to  keep  us  moving." 


LITTLE   BENJAMIN  109 

"  Mary,  daughter  —  not  that  I  need  your 
answer,  my  dear." 

"  He  is  the  only  child  I  shall  ever 
have  !  "  said  Mary,  simply. 

There  was  silence  for  a  moment,  and  all 
thought  of  the  grave  where  her  young 
heart  had  laid  its  treasure. 

"Lemuel!" 

"  I've  been  hard  on  the  child,  Father !  " 
said  Lemuel.  "  He's  so  different  from  the 
rest  of  us,  and  he  does  try  me.  But 
mother  loved  him,  and  down  at  the  bottom 
we  all  do,  I  guess.  I  say  '  stay,'  too,  and 
I'll  try  to  be  more  of  a  brother  to  him 
from  now  on." 

"  Son  Adam,  I  have  left  you  the  longest 
time  to  reflect,"  said  Father  Golden.  "You 
are  the  oldest,  and  when  I  am  gone  it 
will  be  on  you  and  Mary  that  the  heft 
of  the  care  will  come.  Take  all  the 


110  THE    (,'JIEEN  SATIN  GOWN 

time  you  want,  and  then  give  us  your 
word ! " 

Adam  turned  round ;  his  face  was  very 
grave,  but  he  spoke  cheerfully. 

"  I  have  had  time  enough,  Father,"  he 
said.  "  I  was  the  first  that  heard  that  little 
voice,  ten  years  ago,  and  the  first,  except 
mother,  that  saw  the  child ;  'twould  be 
strange  if  I  were  the  one  to  send  him 
away.  He  came  in  Christ's  name,  and  in 
that  name  I  bid  him  stay." 

"  Amen  !  "  said  Father  Golden. 

A  silence  followed ;  but  it  was  broken 
soon  by  a  lively  whistle,  shrilling  out  a 
rollicking  tune ;  the  next  moment  a  boy 
came  running  into  the  room.  Curly,  rosy, 
dirty,  ragged,  laughing,  panting,  little  Ben 
jamin  stood  still  and  looked  round  on  all 
the  earnest,  serious  faces. 

"  What's  the  matter,  all  you  folks  ?  "  he 


LITTLE   BENJAMIN  HI 

asked.  "  I  should  think  you  was  all  in 
meeting,  and  sermon  just  beginning.  Ruth, 
I  tied  up  Kitty's  leg  all  right ;  and  I'll  dig 
greens  to  pay  for  the  glass,  Joe.  Say, 
Bro'rer-Adam-an'-Lem  (Benny  pronounced 
this  as  if  it  were  one  word),  did  you  forget 
it  was  April  Fool's  Day  ?  Didn't  I  fool  you 
good  ?  And  —  say!  there's  a  fierce  breeze 
and  my  new  kite's  a  buster.  Who'll  come 
out  and  fly  her  with  me  ?  " 

"I  will,  Benny!"    said  Adam,  Lemuel, 
Mary,  Ruth,  and  Joseph. 


DON   ALONZO 


DON  ALONZO 

"  DON  ALONZO  !  Don  Alonzo  Pitkin  ! 
Where  be  you?" 

There  was  no  answer. 

"  Don  Alonzo !  Deacon  Bassett's  here, 
and  wishful  to  see  you.  Don  Alonzo 

Pit-kin  I " 

Mrs.   Joe    Pitkin   stood   at   the   door   a 

moment,  waiting ;  then  she  shook  her 
shoulders  with  a  despairing  gesture,  and 
went  back  into  the  sitting-room.  "  I  don't 
know  where  he  is,  Deacon  Bassett,"  she 
said.  "  There !  I'm  sorry ;  but  he's  so 
bashful,  Don  Alonzo  is,  he'll  creep  off  and 
hide  anywheres  sooner  than  see  folks.  I 
do  feel  mortified,  but  I  can't  seem  to  help 
it,  no  way  in  the  world." 

115 


11G  THE    (i  RE  EN   SATIN    GOWN 

"  No  need  to,  Mis'  Pit  kin,"  said  Deacon 
Bassett,  rising  slowly  and  reaching  for  his 
hat.  "  No  need  to.  I  should  have  been 
pleased  to  see  Don  'Lonzo,  and  ask  if  he 
got  benefit  from  those  pills  I  left  for  him 
last  time  I  called ;  what  he  wants  is  to 
doctor  reg'lar,  and  keep  straight  on  doc- 
torin'.  But  I  can  call  again;  and  I  felt 
it  a  duty  to  let  you  know  what's  goin'  on 
at  your  own  yard-gate,  I  may  say.  Mis' 
Pegrum's  house  ain't  but  a  stone's  throw 
from  yourn,  is  it?  Well,  I'll  be  wishing 
you  good  day,  and  I  hope  Joseph  will  be 
home  before  there's  any  trouble.  I  don't 
suppose  you've  noticed  whether  Don  Alonzo 
has  growed  any,  sence  he  took  those  pills  ? " 

"No,  I  haven't!"  said  Mrs.  Pitkin, 
shortly.  "  Good  day,  Deacon  Bassett." 

"  Yes,  you  can  call  again,"  she  added, 
mentally,  as  she  watched  the  deacon  mak- 


DON  ALONZO  117 

ing  his  way  slowly  down  the  garden  walk, 
stopping  the  while  to  inspect  every  plant 
that  looked  promising.  "  You  can  call 
again,  but  you  will  not  see  him,  if  you 
come  every  day.  It  does  beat  all,  the  way 
folks  can't  let  that  boy  alone.  Talk  about 
his  being  cranky !  I'd  be  ten  times  as 
cranky  as  he  is,  if  I  was  pestered  by  every 
old  podogger  that's  got  stuff  to  sell." 

She  closed  the  door,  and  addressed  the 
house,  apparently  empty  and  still.  "  He's 
gone !  "  she  said,  speaking  rather  loudly, 
"  Don  'Lonzo,  he's  gone,  and  you  can  come 
out.  I  expect  you're  hid  somewheres 
about  here,  for  I  didn't  hear  you  go  out." 

There  was  no  sound.  She  opened  the 
door  of  the  ground-floor  bedroom  and 
looked  in.  All  was  tidy  and  pleasant  as 
usual.  Every  mat  lay  in  its  place ;  the 
chairs  were  set  against  the  wall  as  she 


118  THE    GREEN   SATIN   GOWN 

loved  to  see  them ;  the  rows  of  books, 
the  shelves  of  chemicals,  at  which  she 
hardly  dared  to  look,  and  which  she  never 
dared  to  touch  for  fear  something  would 
"  go  off  "  and  kill  her  instantly,  the  speci 
mens  in  their  tall  glass  jars,  the  case  of 
butterflies,  all  were  in  their  place ;  but 
there  was  no  sign  of  life  in  the  room,  save 
the  canary  in  the  window. 

"  Deacon  Bassett's  gone !  "  she  said, 
speaking  to  the  canary. 

There  was  a  scuffling  sound  from  under 
the  bed ;  the  valance  was  lifted,  and  a 
head  emerged  cautiously. 

"  I  tell  you  he's  gone ! "  repeated  Mira 
Pitkin,  rather  impatiently.  "  Come  out, 
Don  Alonzo !  There !  you  are  foolish,  I 
must  say ! " 

The  head  came  out,  followed  by  a  figure. 
The  figure  was  that  of  a  boy  of  twelve,  but 


DON   ALOXZO  119 

the  Lead  belonged  to  a  youth  of  seventeen. 
The  rounded  shoulders,  the  sharp  features, 
the  dark,  sunken  eyes,  all  told  a  tale  of  suf 
fering  ;  Don  Alonzo  Pitkin  was  a  hunch 
back. 

His  pretty,  silly  mother  had  given  him 
the  foolish  name  which  seemed  a  perpetual 
mockery  of  his  feeble  person.  She  had 
found  it  in  an  old  romance,  and  had  only 
wavered  between  it  and  Seilor  Gonzalez,  — 
which  she  pronounced  Seener  Gon-zallies, 
-the  other  dark-eyed  hero  of  the  book. 
Perhaps  she  pictured  to  herself  her  baby 
growing  up  into  such  another  lofty,  black- 
plumed  hidalgo  as  those  whose  magnificent 
language  and  mustachios  had  so  deeply 
impressed  her.  It  was  true  that  she  her 
self  had  pinkish  eyes  and  white  eyelashes, 
while  her  husband  was  familiarly  known  as 
"  Carrots,"  —  but  what  of  that  ? 


120  THE    GREEX    SATIX    GOIVX 

But  he  had  a  fall,  this  poor  baby,  —  a 
cruel  fall,  from  the  consequences  of  which 
no  high-sounding  name  could  save  him ; 
and  then  presently  the  little  mother  died, 
and  the  father  married  again. 

The  boy's  childhood  had  been  a  sad  one, 
and  all  the  happiness  he  had  known  had 
been  lately,  since  his  elder  brother  married. 
Big,  good-natured  Joe  Pitkin,  marrying  the 
prettiest  girl  in  the  village,  had  been  sore 
at  heart,  even  in  his  new-wedded  happi 
ness,  at  the  thought  of  leaving  the 
deformed,  sensitive  boy  alone  with  the 
careless  father  and  the  shrewish  step 
mother.  But  his  young  wife  had  been 
the  first  to  say : 

"'Let  Don  Alonzo  come  and  live  with 
us,  Joe !  Where  there  is  room  for  two, 
there  is  room  for  three,  and  that  boy 
wants  to  be  made  of !  " 


DON  ALONZO  121 

So  the  strong,  cheerful,  wholesome  young 
woman  took  the  sickly  lad  into  her  house 
and  heart,  and  "made  of  him,"  to  use 
her  own  quaint  phrase ;  and  she  became 
mother  and  sister  and  sweetheart,  all  in 
one,  to  Don  Alonzo. 

Now  she  stood  looking  at  him,  shaking 
her  head,  yet  smiling.  "  Don  'Lonzo,  how 
can  you  behave  so  ?  "  she  asked.  "  This  is 
the  third  time  Deacon  Bassett  has  been 
here  to  see  you,  and  he's  coming  again ; 
and  what  be  I  to  say  to  him  next  time  he 
comes?  You  can't  go  through  life  without 
seeing  folks,  you  know." 

Don  Alonzo  shook  his  shoulders,  and 
pretended  to  look  for  dust  on  his  coat.  He 
would  have  been  deeply  mortified  to  find 
any,  for  he  took  care  of  his  own  room, 
and  prided  himself,  with  reason,  on  its 
neatness.  Also,  the  space  beneath  his 


122         Tin-:  GR/-:I;\  SATIX  f;<n\\\ 

bedstead  was  cupboard  as  well  as   hiding- 
place. 

"  He  troubles  me,"  he  said,  meekly. 
"  Deacon  Bassett  troubles  me  more  than 
any  of  'em.  Did  he  ask  if  I'd  grown 

O   " 

any  ? 

"Well,  he  did."  Mira  admitted.  "But 
I  expect  he  didn't  mean  anything  by  it." 

"  He's  asked  that  ever  since  I  can  re 
member,"  said  Don  Alonzo ;  "and  I'm 
weary  of  it.  There !  And  then  he  says 
that  if  I  would  only  take  his  Green  Elixir 
three  times  a  day  for  three  months,  I'd 
grow  like  a  sapling  willow.  He  hopes  to 
make  his  living  out  of  me,  yet !  " 

Mrs.  Pitkin  laughed,  comfortably,  and 
smoothed  the  lad's  hair  back  with  a 
motherly  touch.  "  All  the  same,"  she 
said,  "  you  must  quit  hiding  under  the  bed 
when  folks  come  to  call,  Don  'Lonzo.  You 


DON   ALONZO  123 

don't  want  'em  to  think  I  treat  you  bad, 
and  keep  you  out  o'  sight,  so's  they'll  not 
find  it  out."  Then,  seeing  the  boy's  face 
flush  with  distress,  she  added,  hastily, 
"  Besides,  you're  getting  to  be  'most  a  man 
now  ;  I  want  strangers  should  know  there's 
men-folks  about  the  place,  now  Joe's  away. 
There's  burglars  in  town,  Don  'Lonzo,  and 
we  must  look  out  and  keep  things  shut  up 
close,  nights." 

"  Burglars  !  "  repeated  the  youth. 

"  Yes ;  Deacon  Bassett  was  telling  me 
about  'em  just  now.  I  guess  likely  half 
what  he  came  for  was  to  give  me  a  good 
scare,  knowing  Joe  was  away.  Now,  ain't 
I  uncharitable  !  'Twas  just  as  likely  to  be 
a  friendly  warning.  Anyway,  he  was 
telling  me  they  came  through  from  Tup- 
ham  Corner  day  before  yesterday,  and 
they've  been  lurking  and  spying  round. 


124  THE    GREEX   SATIN   GOWX 

Some  boys  saw  them,  coming  through 
Green  Gully,  and  were  scared  to  death  at 
their  looks  ;  they  said  they  were  big,  black- 
looking  men,  strangers  to  these  parts  ;  and 
they  swore  at  the  boys  and  ordered  'em  off 
real  ugly.  Nobody  else  has  seen  them  in 
honest  daylight,  but  they  broke  into  Dan'l 
Brown's  house  last  night.  He's  deaf,  you 
know,  and  didn't  hear  a  sound.  They  came 
right  into  the  room  where  he  slept,  —  Dea 
con  Bassett  was  there  the  next  day,  and 
saw  their  tracks  all  over  the  floor,  —  and 
took  ten  dollars  out  of  his  pants  pocket. 
The  pants  was  hanging  right  beside  the 
bed,  and  they  turned  them  clean  inside 
out,  and  Dan'l  never  stirred." 

"  My,  oh  !  "  exclaimed  Don  Alonzo. 

"  Why,  it's  terrible ! "  Mira  went  on. 
"  Then,  last  night,  they  got  into  Mis' 
Pegrum's  house,  too.  She's  a  lone  woman, 


DON  ALONZO  125 

you  know,  same  as  Dan'l  is  a  man.  Seems 
as  if  they  had  took  note  of  every  house 
where  there  wasn't  plenty  of  folks  to  be 
stirring  and  taking  notice.  They  got  into 
the  pantry  window,  and  took  every  living 
thing  she  had  to  eat.  They  might  do  that, 
and  still  go  hungry,  Deacon  Bassett  says ; 
you  know  there's  always  been  a  little  feel 
ing  between  him  and  Mis'  Pegrum ;  her 
cat  and  his  hens  —  it's  an  old  story.  Well, 
and  she  did  hear  a  noise,  and  came  out 
into  the  kitchen,  and  there  sat  two  great, 
black  men,  eating  her  best  peach  preserves, 
and  the  cake  she'd  made  for  the  Ladies' 
Aid,  to-day.  She  was  so  scare't,  she 
couldn't  speak  a  word ;  and  they  just 
laughed  and  told  her  to  go  back  to  bed, 
and  she  went.  Poor-spirited,  it  seems,  but 
I  don't  know  as  I  should  have  done  a  bit 
better  in  her  place.  There !  I  wish  Joe'd 


126  THE    GREEN    SAT IX    GOWN 

come  back !  I  feel  real  nervous,  hearing 
about  it  all.  Oh,  and  her  gold  watch,  too, 
they  got,  and  three  solid  silver  teaspoons 
that  belonged  to  her  mother.  She's  sick 
abed,  Deacon  Bassett  says,  and  I  don't 
wonder.  I  don't  feel  as  if  I  should  sleep 
a  wink  to-night !  " 

The  color  came  into  Don  Alonzo's  thin 
cheeks.  "  There  sha'n't  no  one  do  you 
any  hurt  while  I'm  round,  Mira!"  he 
said ;  and  for  a  moment  he  forgot  his 
deformity,  and  straightened  his  poor  shoul 
ders,  and  held  up  his  head  like  a  man. 

There  was  no  shade  of  amusement  in 
Mira  Pitkin's  honest  smile.  "  I  expect 
you'd  be  as  brave  as  a  lion,  Don  'Lonzo," 
she  said.  "  I  expect  you'd  shoo  'em  right 
out  of  the  yard,  same  as  you  did  the 
turkey  gobbler  when  he  run  at  my  red 
shawl;  don't  you  remember?  But  all  the 


DON  ALONZO  127 

same,  I  hope  they  will  not  come;  and  I 
shall  be  glad  to  see  Joe  back  again." 

At  that  moment  the  lad  caught  sight  of 
himself  in  the  little  looking-glass  that  hung 
over  his  chest  of  drawers.  Mira,  watching 
him,  saw  the  sparkle  go  out  of  his  eyes, 
saw  his  shoulders  droop,  and  his  head  sink 
forward ;  and  she  said,  quickly  : 

"  But  there !  we've  said  enough  about 
the  burglars,  I  should  think !  How's  the 
experiments,  Don  'Lonzo  ?  I  heard  an 
awful  fizzing  going  on,  just  before  Deacon 
Bassett  came  in.  I  expect  you've  got  great 
things  hidden  under  that  bed ;  I  expect 
there's  other  perils  round  besides  burglars  ! 
Joe  may  come  back  and  find  us  both  blown 
into  kindlin'-wood,  after  all !  " 

This  was  a  favorite  joke  of  theirs ;  she 
had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  a  smile  come 
into  the  boy's  sad  eyes  ;  then,  with  another 


128  THE    GREEN   SATIN   GOWN 

of  those  motherly  touches  on  his  hair,  she 
went  away,  singing,  to  her  work. 

Don  Alonzo  looked  after  her.  From  the 
way  his  eyes  followed  her,  she  might  have 
been  a  glorified  saint  in  robe  and  crown, 
instead  of  a  rosy-cheeked  young  woman  in 
a  calico  gown.  "  There  sha'n't  nothing 
hurt  her  while  I'm  round  ! "  he  muttered 
again. 

The  night  fell,  dark  and  cloud}'.  Mrs. 
Pitkin  went  to  bed  early,  after  shaking 
every  door  and  trying  every  window  to 
make  sure  that  all  was  safe.  Don  Alonzo 
went  through  the  same  process  twice  after 
she  was  gone,  but  he  did  not  feel  like  sleep 
ing,  himself.  He  lay  down  on  his  bed,  but 
his  thoughts  seemed  dancing  from  one 
thing  to  another,  —  to  Brother  Joe,  travel 
ling  homeward  now,  he  hoped,  after  a 
week's  absence ;  to  Mira's  goodness,  her 


DON  ALUNZO  129 

patience  with  his  wayward  self,  her  kind 
ness  in  letting  him  mess  with  chemicals, 
and  turn  the  shed  into  a  laboratory,  and 
frighten  her  with  explosions ;  to  Dan'l 
Brown  and  Mis'  Pegrum  and  the  burglars. 
Ah,  the  burglars  !  What  could  he  do,  if 
they  should  really  come  to  the  house  ? 
They  were  two  men,  probably  well-grown  ; 
he  —  he  knew  what  he  was  !  How  could 
he  carry  out  his  promise  to  Mira,  if  she 
should  be  in  actual  danger  ?  Not  by 
strength,  clearly ;  but  there  must  be  some 
way ;  bodily  strength  was  not  the  only 
thing  in  the  world.  He  looked  about  him, 
seeking  for  inspiration ;  his  eyes,  wander 
ing  here  and  there,  lighted  upon  something, 
then  remained  fixed.  The  room  was  dimly 
lighted  by  a  small  lamp,  but  the  corners 
were  dark,  and  in  one  of  these  dark  cor 
ners  something  was  shining  with  a  faint, 


130  THE    GREEN   SATIN    GOWN 

uncertain  light.  The  phosphorescent 
match-box !  He  had  made  it  himself,  and 
had  ornamented  it  with  a  grotesque  face  in 
luminous  paint.  This  face  now  glimmered 
and  glowered  at  him  from  the  darkness  ; 
and  Don  Alonzo  lay  still  and  looked  back 
at  it.  Lying  so  and  looking,  there  crept 
into  his  mind  an  old  story  that  he  had 
once  read  ;  and  he  laughed  to  himself,  and 
then  nodded  at  the  glimmering  face. 
"  Thank  you,  old  fellow ! "  said  Don 
Alonzo. 

Was  there  a  noise  ?  Was  it  his  imagina 
tion,  or  did  a  branch  snap,  a  twig  rustle 
down  the  road  ?  The  hunchback  had  ears 
like  a  fox,  and  in  an  instant  he  was  at  the 
window,  peering  out  into  the  darkness. 
At  first  he  could  see  nothing;  but  gradu 
ally,  the  lilac  bushes  at  the  gate  came  into 
sight,  and  the  clumps  of  flowers  in  the 


DON   ALONZO  131 

little  garden  plot.  Not  a  breath  was  stir 
ring,  yet  —  hark  !  Again  a  twig  snapped, 
a  branch  crackled ;  and  now  again !  and 
nearer  each  time.  Don  Alonzo  strained 
his  eyes  to  pierce  the  darkness.  Were 
those  bushes,  those  two  shapes  by  the  gate  ? 
They  were  not  there  a  moment  ago.  Ha ! 
they  moved ;  they  were  coining  nearer. 
Their  feet  made  no  sound  on  the  soft  earth, 
but  his  sharp  ears  caught  a  new  sound,  — 
a  whisper,  faint,  yet  harsh,  like  a  hiss. 
Don  Alonzo  had  seen  and  heard  enough. 
He  left  the  window,  and  the  next  moment 
was  diving  under  the  bed. 

Mira  Pitkin  usually  slept  like  a  child, 
from  the  moment  her  head  touched  the 
pillow  till  the  precise  second  when  some 
thing  woke  in  her  brain  and  said  u  Five 
o'clock ! "  But  to-night  her  sleep  was 


132  THE   GREEN   SATIN    GOWN 

broken.  She  tossed  and  muttered  in  her 
dreams ;  and  suddenly  she  sat  up  in  bed 
with  eyes  wide  open  and  a  distinct  sense 
of  something  wrong.  Her  first  thought 
was  of  fire  ;  she  sniffed ;  the  air  was  pure 
and  clear.  Then,  like  a  cry  in  her  ears, 
came  —  "  The  burglars  !  "  She  held  her 
breath  and  listened ;  was  the  night  as  still 
as  it  was  dark  ?  No  !  a  faint,  steady  sound 
came  to  her  ears.  A  mouse,  was  it,  or  — 
the  sound  of  a  tool  ? 

And  then,  almost  noiselessly,  a  window 
was  opened,  the  window  of  the  upper 
entry,  next  her  room.  Mira  was  at  her 
own  window  in  an  instant,  raising  it ;  that, 
too,  opened  silently,  for  Joe  was  a  car 
penter  and  detested  noisy  windows.  She 
peered  out  into  the  thick  darkness.  Black, 
black !  Was  the  blackness  deeper  there, 
just  at  the  front  door  ?  Surely  it  was  ! 


DON   AI.ONZO  133 

Surely  something,  somebody,  was  busy 
with  the  lock  of  the  door ;  and  then  she 
heard,  as  Don  Alonzo  had  heard,  a  low 
sound  like  a  hiss,  beside  the  soft  scraping 
of  the  tool.  What  should  she  do?  The 
windows  were  fast,  there  was  a  bar  and 
chain  inside  the  door,  but  what  of  that  ? 
Two  desperate  men  could  force  an  entrance 
anywhere  in  a  moment.  What  could  she 
do,  a  woman,  with  only  a  sickly  boy  to 
help  her?  And  —  who  had  opened  that 
upper  window  ?  Was  there  a  third  accom 
plice —  for  she  thought  she  could  see  two 
spots  of  deeper  blackness  by  the  door  — 
hidden  in  the  house  ?  Oh,  if  only  Joe  had 
borrowed  his  father's  old  pistol  for  her,  as 
she  had  begged  him  to  do ! 

Mira  opened  her  lips  to  shout,  in  the 
hope  of  rousing  the  nearest  neighbors, 
though  they  were  not  very  near.  Opened 


134         TIII-:  <;/:i-;  i-;.\  SAT/.\  r/nir.v 

her  lips  —  but  no  sound  came  from  them. 
For  at  that  instant  something  appeared  at 
the  window  next  her  own ;  something 

'  O 

stepped  from  it,  out  on  to  the  little  porch 
over  the  front  door.  Mini  Pit  kin  gasped, 
and  felt  her  heart  fail  within  her.  A  skel 
eton  !  Every  limb  outlined  in  pale  fire, 
the  bony  fingers  points  of  wavering  flame. 
What  awful  portent  was  this  ?  The  Thing 
paused  and  turned,  a  frightful  face  gazed 
at  her  for  an  instant,  a  hand  waved,  then 
the  Thing  dropped,  silent  as  a  shadow,  on 
that  spot  of  deeper  blackness  that  was 
stooping  at  the  front  door. 

Then  rose  an  outcry  wild  and  hideous. 
The  burglar  shouted  hoarsely,  and  tried  to 
shake  off  the  Thing  that  sat  on  his  shoul 
ders,  gripping  his  neck  with  hands  of  iron, 
digging  his  sides  with  bony  knees  and  feet ; 
but  the  second  thief,  who  saw  by  what  his 


DOS    ALOXZO  135 

comrade  was  ridden,  shrieked  in  pure 
animal  terror,  uttering  unearthly  sounds 
that  cut  the  air  like  a  knife.  For  a  mo 
ment  he  could  only  stand  and  shriek  ;  then 
he  turned  and  fled  through  the  yard,  and 
the  other  fled  after  him,  the  glimmering 
phantom  clutching  him  tight.  Down  the 
road  they  fled.  Mira  could  now  see  noth 
ing  save  the  riding  Thing,  apparently 
horsed  on  empty  air ;  but  now  she  saw  it, 
still  clutching  close  with  its  left  hand,  raise 
the  right,  holding  what  looked  like  a 
shining  snake,  and  bring  it  down  hissing 
and  curling.  Again,  and  again !  and  with 
every  blow  the  shrieks  grew  more  and 
more  hideous,  till  now  they  had  reached 
the  cluster  of  houses  at  the  head  of  the 
street,  and  every  window  was  flung  'open, 
and  lights  appeared,  and  voices  clamored 
in  terror  and  amaze.  The  village  was 


136  THE    GREEN   SATIN    GOWN 

roused  ;  and  now  —  now,  the  glimmering 
skeleton  was  seen  to  loose  its  hold.  It 
dropped  from  its  perch,  and  turning  that 
awful  face  toward  her  once  more,  carne 
loping  back,  silent  as  a  shadow.  But  when 
she  saw  that,  Mira  Pitkin,  for  the  first 
and  last  time  in  her  sensible  life,  fainted 
away. 

When  she  came  to  herself,  the  skeleton 
was  bending  over  her  anxiously,  but  its 
face  was  no  longer  frightful ;  it  was  white 
and  anxious,  and  the  eyes  that  met  hers 
were  piteous  with  distress. 

"My,  oh!"  cried  Don  Alonzo.  "I 
vowed  no  one  should  do  her  any  hurt,  and 
now  I've  done  it  myself." 

There  was  little  sleep  in  the  Pitkin 
house  that  night.  The  neighbors  came 
flocking  in  with  cries  and  questions ;  and 
when  all  was  explained,  Don  Alonzo  found 


DON  ALONZO  137 

himself  the  hero  of  the  hour.  For  once  he 
did  not  hide  under  the  bed,  but  received 
everybody  —  from  Deacon  Bassett  down  to 
the  smallest  boy  who  came  running  in 
shirt  and  trousers,  half-awake,  and  athirst 
for  marvels  -  -  with  modest  pride,  and 
told  over  and  over  again  how  it  all 
happened. 

Twas  no  great  thing,  he  maintained. 
He  had  fooled  considerable  with  phos 
phorus,  and  had  some  of  the  luminous 
paint  that  he  had  mixed  some  time  before. 
Thinking  about  these  fellows,  he  remem 
bered  a  story  he  read  once,  where  they 
painted  up  a  dead  body  to  scare  away  some 
murdering  robbers.  He  thought  a  living 
person  was  as  good  as  a  dead  one,  any  day; 
so  he  tried  it  on,  and  it  appeared  to 
succeed.  He  didn't  think  likely  those 
men  would  stop  short  of  the  next 


138  THE    GREEN    SATIN    GOWN 

township,  from  the  way  they  were  run 
ning  when  he  got  down.  Oh,  the  snake? 
That  was  Joe's  whip.  He  presumed 
likely  it  hurt  some,  from  the  way  they 
yelled. 

But  the  best  of  all  was  when  Joe  came 
home,  the  very  next  day,  and  when,  the 
three  of  them  sitting  about  the  supper- 
table,  Mira  herself  told  the  great  story, 
from  the  first  moment  of  Deacon  Bassett's 
visit  down  to  the  triumphant  close  — 
"  And  I  see  him  coming  back,  shining  like 
a  corpse-candle,  and  I  fell  like  dead  on  the 
floor !  " 

"  There  !  "  she  continued,  beaming  across 
the  table  at  Joe,  as  she  handed  him  his 
fourth  cup  of  coffee,  "you  may  go  away 
again  whenever  you're  a  mind  to  ;  I  sha'n't 
be  afraid.  You  ain't  half  the  man  Don 
'Lonzo  is !  " 


DON  ALONZO  139 

"  I  don't  expect  I  be ! "  said  big  Joe, 
beaming  back  again. 

It  seemed  to  Don  Alonzo  that  their 
smiles  made  the  kitchen  warm  as  June, 
though  October  was  falling  cold  that  year. 


THE   SHED   CHAMBER 


THE   SHED   CHAMBER 

"  WELL,  I  once  answered  an  advertise 
ment  in  the  Farmer  s  Friend,  girls,  and  I 
have  always  been  glad  I  did.  It  was  that 
summer  when  father  broke  his  arm  and  the 
potato  crop  failed,  and  everything  seemed 
to  be  going  wrong  on  the  farm.  There 
were  plenty  of  girls  to  do  the  work  at 
home,  and  I  thought  I  ought  to  get  some 
thing  outside  to  do  if  I  could.  I  tried  here 
and  there,  but  without  success ;  at  last  my 
eye  caught  a  notice  in  the  Farmer  s  Friend, 
just  the  same  kind  of  notice  as  that  you 
are  speaking  of,  Lottie  :  ;  Wanted,  a  capa 
ble,  steady  girl  to  assist  in  housework  and 
take  care  of  children.  Address,  with  refer- 

143 


144  THE    GREEN   SATIN   GOWN 

ence,  A.  B.  C.,  Dashville.'  I  talked  it  over 
with  mother,  and  she  agreed  with  me ; 
father  didn't  take  so  kindly  to  the  idea, 
naturally ;  he  likes  to  have  us  all  at  home, 
especially  in  summer.  However,  he  said  I 
might  do  as  I  pleased ;  so  I  answered  the 
notice  and  sent  a  letter  from  our  pastor, 
saying  what  he  thought  of  me.  I  was 
almost  ashamed  to  send  it,  too ;  he  has 
always  been  more  than  kind  to  me,  you 
know ;  if  I'd  been  his  own  daughter  he 
couldn't  have  said  more.  Well,  they  wrote 
for  me  to  come,  and  I  went. 

"  Girls,  it  was  pretty  hard  when  it  came 
to  that  part,  leaving  the  house,  and  mother 
standing  in  the  doorway  trying  not  to  look 
anxious,  and  father  fretting  and  saying  it 
was  all  nonsense,  and  he  shouldn't  have 
hands  enough  to  pick  the  apples.  Of 
course  he  knew  I  knew  better,  but  I  was 


THE    SHED    CHAMBER  145 

glad  he  didn't  want  me  to  go,  after  all. 
Sister  Nell  and  Sister  Margie  had  packed 
my  trunk,  and  they  were  as  excited  as 
I  was,  and  almost  wished  they  were  going 
instead,  but  not  quite,  I  think ;  and  so  Joe 
whistled  to  old  Senator,  and  I  waved  my 
handkerchief,  and  mother  and  the  two  girls 
waved  their  aprons,  and  off  I  went. 

"  I  didn't  really  feel  alone  till  I  was 
in  the  train  and  had  lost  sight  of  Joe  stand 
ing  and  smoothing  Senator's  mane  and 
nodding  at  me ;  then  the  world  seemed 
very  big  and  Tupham  Corner  a  very  small 
corner  in  it.  I  will  not  say  anything  more 
about  this  part ;  you'll  find  it  out  soon 
enough  yourselves,  when  you  go  away  from 
home  the  first  time. 

"  It  was  a  long  journey,  or  it  seemed 
so  then ;  but  everything  comes  to  an  end 
some  time,  and  there  was  plenty  of  daylight 


146  THE    GREEN   SATIN   GOWN 

left  for  me  to  see  my  new  home  when  I 
arrived.  It  was  a  pleasant-looking  house, 
long  and  rambling,  painted  yellow,  too, 
which  made  me  more  homesick  than  ever. 
There  were  two  children  standing  in  the 
doorway,  and  presently  Mr.  Bowles  came 
out  and  shook  hands  with  me  and  helped 
me  down  with  my  things.  He  was  a  kind, 
sensible-looking  man,  and  he  made  the  chil 
dren  come  and  speak  to  me  and  shake 
hands.  They  were  shy  then  and  hung 
back,  and  put  their  fingers  in  their  mouths; 
I  knew  just  how  they  felt.  I  wanted  to 
hang  back,  too,  when  he  took  me  into  the 
house  to  see  Mrs.  Bowles.  She  was  an 
invalid,  he  told  me,  and  could  not  leave  her 
room. 

"  Girls,  the  minute  I  saw  that  sweet, 
pale  face,  with  the  look  of  pain  and 
patience  in  it,  I  knew  \\hat  I  had  come 


THE    SHED    CHAMBER  147 

for.  I  do  think  we  understood  each  other 
from  the  first  minute,  Mrs.  Bowles  and  I ; 
for  she  held  my  hand  a  good  while,  looking 
into  my  face  and  I  into  hers,  and  she  must 
have  seen  how  sorry  I  was  for  her,  and 
how  I  hoped  I  could  help  her ;  for  when  I 
went  into  the  kitchen  I  heard  her  say,  with 
a  little  sigh,  as  she  lay  back  again,  '  0 
John,  I  do  believe  this  is  the  right  one  at 
last ! '  You  may  believe  I  made  up  my 
mind  that  I  would  be  the  right  one,  Lottie  ! 
"  That  kitchen  was  in  a  scandalous  con 
dition.  It  was  well  I  had  seen  Mrs.  Bowles 
first  or  I  should  have  wanted  to  run  away 
that  very  minute.  The  eldest  little  girl  — 
it  seems  strange  to  think  that  there  ever 
was  a  time  when  I  didn't  know  Barbara's 
name  !  —  followed  me  out,  —  I  think  her 
father  told  her  to,  —  and  rubbed  along 
against  the  wall,  just  exactly  as  I  used  to 


148  THE    GREEK    SATIN    GO\\'X 

when  I  felt  shy.  When  I  asked  her  a  little 
about  where  things  were,  and  so  on  —  they 
were  everywhere  and  nowhere ;  yon  never 
saw  such  a  looking  place  in  your  life !  — 
she  took  her  finger  out  of  her  mouth,  and 
prett}'  soon  I  told  her  about  our  yellow 
coon  kittens,  and  after  that  we  got  on  very 
well.  She  said  they  had  had  one  girl  after 
another,  each  worse  than  the  last.  The 
shoe  factory  had  taken  off  all  the  good 
help  and  left  only  the  incapable  ones.  The 
last  one,  Barbara  said,  had  almost  starved 
them,  and  been  saucy  to  Mrs.  Bowles,  and 
dirty  —  well,  there  was  no  need  to  tell  me 
that.  It  was  a  shame  to  see  good  things 
so  destroyed  ;  for  the  things  were  good, 
only  all  dirty  and  broken,  and  —  oh,  well ! 
there's  no  use  in  telling  about  that  part. 

"  I  asked  when  her  mother  had  had  any 
thing  to  eat,  and  she  said  not  since  noon  ; 


THE    SHED    CHAMBER  149 

I  knew  that  was  no  way  for  an  invalid  to 
be  taken  care  of,  so  I  put  the  kettle  on  and 
hunted  about  till  I  found  a  cup  and  saucer 
I  liked,  and  then  I  found  the  bread-box  — 
oh,  dear !  that  bread-box,  girls  !  But  the 
mold  scraped  right  off,  and  the  bread 
wasn't  really  bad ;  I  made  some  toast  and 
cut  the  crust  off,  and  put  just  a  thin  scrape 
of  butter  on  it ;  then  I  sent  Barbara  in 
with  a  little  tray  and  told  her  to  see  that 
her  mother  took  it  all.  I  thought  she'd 
feel  more  like  taking  it  from  the  child  than 
from  a  stranger,  if  she  hadn't  much  appe 
tite.  My  dears,  the  child  came  out  again 
in  a  few  minutes,  her  face  all  alight. 

" '  She  drank  it  all,  every  drop ! '  she 
cried.  'And  now  she's  eating  the  toast. 
She  said  how  did  you  know,  and  she  cried, 
but  now  she's  all  right.  Father  'most 
cried,  too,  I  think.  Say!' 


150  THE    GREEN   SATIN   GOWN 

"  <  Yes,  dear.' 

" '  Father  says  the  Lord  sent  you.  Did 
he?' 

"  I  nodded,  for  I  couldn't  say  anything 
that  minute.  I  kissed  the  little  girl  and 
went  on  with  my  cleaning.  Girls,  don't 
ever  grudge  the  time  you  spend  in  learning 
to  cook  nicely.  Food  is  what  keeps  the 
breath  of  life  in  us,  and  it  all  depends 
upon  us  girls  now,  and  later,  when  we  are 
older  women,  whether  it  is  good  or  bad. 
No,  Sue,  I'm  not  going  to  preach,  but  I 
shall  never  forget  how  that  tired  man  and 
those  hungry  children  enjoyed  their  supper. 
Twas  mother's  supper,  every  bit  of  it,  from 
the  light  biscuit  down  to  the  ham  omelette  ; 
I  found  the  ham  bone  in  a  dark  cupboard, 
all  covered  with  mold,  like  the  bread,  but 
'twas  good  and  sweet  underneath.  I  only 
wish  mother  had  been  there  to  see  them 


"'FATHKR    SAYS    THF    LORD    SK.NT    YOU.       DID    HE?'" 


THE    SHED    CHAMBER  151 

eat.  After  supper  Mr.  Bowles  came  and 
shook  hands  with  me.  I  didn't  know  then 
that  he  never  used  any  more  words  than  he 
had  to ;  but  I  was  pleased,  if  I  did  think  it 
funny. 

"  I  was  tired  enough  by  the  time  bed 
time  came,  and  after  I  had  put  the  children 
to  bed  and  seen  that  Mrs.  Bowles  was  com 
fortable,  and  had  water  and  crackers  and  a 
candle  beside  her  —  she  was  a  very  poor 
sleeper  —  I  was  glad  enough  to  go  to  bed 
myself.  Barbara  showed  me  my  room,  a 
pretty  little  room  with  sloping  gables  and 
windows  down  by  the  floor.  There  were 
two  doors,  and  I  asked  her  where  the  other 
led  to.  She  opened  it  and  said,  f  The  shed 
chamber.'  I  looked  over  her  shoulder, 
holding  up  the  candle,  and  saw  a  great 
bare  room,  with  some  large  trunks  in  it. 
but  no  other  furniture  except  a  high  ward- 


152  THE    GREEN   SATL\    GOWN 

robe.  I  liked  the  look  of  the  place,  for  it 
was  a  little  like  our  play  room  in  the  attic 
at  home ;  but  I  was  too  tired  to  explore, 
and  I  was  asleep  in  ten  minutes  from  the 
time  I  had  tucked  up  Barbara  in  her  bed, 
and  Rob  and  Billy  in  their  double  crib. 

"  I  should  take  a  week  if  I  tried  to  tell 
you  all  about  those  first  days  ;  and,  after  all, 
it  is  one  particular  thing  that  I  started  to 
tell,  only  there  is  so  much  that  comes  back 
to  me.  In  a  few  days  I  felt  that  I  be 
longed  there,  almost  as  much  as  at  home ; 
they  were  that  kind  of  people,  and  made 
me  feel  that  they  cared  about  me,  and  not 
only  about  what  I  did.  Mrs.  Bowles  has 
always  been  the  best  friend  I  have  in  the 
world  after  my  own  folks ;  it  didn't  take 
us  a  day  to  see  into  each  other,  and  by  and 
by  it  got  to  be  so  that  I  knew  what  she 
wanted  almost  before  she  knew,  herself. 


THE    SHED    CHAMBER  153 

"  At  the  end  of  the  week  Mr.  Bowles 
said  he  ought  to  go  away  on  business  for  a 
few  days,  and  asked  her  if  she  would  feel 
safe  to  stay  with  me  and  the  children,  or  if 
he  should  ask  his  brother  to  come  and  sleep 
in  the  house. 

"  '  No,  indeed  ! '  said  Mrs.  Bowles.  '  I 
shall  feel  as  safe  with  Nora  as  if  I  had  a 
regiment  in  the  house  ;  a  good  deal  safer ! ' 
she  added,  and  laughed. 

"  So  it  was  settled,  and  the  next  day  Mr. 
Bowles  went  away  and  I  was  left  in  full 
charge.  I  suppose  I  rather  liked  the  re 
sponsibility.  I  asked  Mrs.  Bowles  if  I 
might  go  all  over  the  house  to  see  how 
everything  fastened,  and  she  said,  '  Of 
course.'  The  front  windows  were  just 
common  windows,  quite  high  up  from 
the  floor ;  but  in  the  shed  chamber,  as 
in  my  room,  they  opened  near  the  floor, 


154  THE    KREEN   SATIN   GOWX 

and  there  was  no  very  secure  way  of  fast 
ening  them,  it  seemed  to  me.  Ho\vever,  I 
wasn't  going  to  say  anything  to  make  her 
nervous,  and  that  was  the  way  they  had 
always  had  them.  If  I  had  only  known ! 

"  After  the  children  went  to  bed  that 
evening  I  read  to  Mrs.  Bowles  for  an  hour, 
and  then  I  went  to  warm  up  a  little  cocoa 
for  her ;  she  slept  better  if  she  took  a  drop 
of  something  hot  the  last  thing.  It  was 
about  nine  o'clock.  I  had  just  got  into 
the  kitchen,  and  was  going  to  light  the 
lamp,  when  I  heard  the  door  open  softly. 

"'Who's  there?'  I  asked. 

"  t  Only  me,'  said  a  girl's  voice. 

"  I  lighted  my  lamp,  and  saw  a  girl 
about  my  own  age,  pretty,  and  showily 
dressed.  She  said  she  was  the  girl  who 
had  left  the  house  a  few  days  ago ;  she 
had  forgotten  something,  and  might  she 


THE    SHED    CHAMBER  155 

go  up  into  the  shed  chamber  and  get  it? 
I  told  her  to  wait  a  minute,  and  went  and 
asked  Mrs.  Bowles.  She  said  yes,  Annie 
might  go  up.  '  Annie  was  careless  and 
saucy,'  she  said,  '  but  I  think  she  meant 
no  harm.  She  can  go  and  get  her  things.' 
"  I  came  back  and  told  the  girl,  and  she 
smiled  and  nodded.  I  did  not  like  her 
smile,  I  could  not  tell  why.  I  started 
to  go  with  her,  but  she  turned  on  me 
pretty  sharply,  and  said  she  had  been  in 
the  house  three  months  and  didn't  need 
to  be  shown  the  way  by  a  stranger.  I 
didn't  want  to  put  myself  forward,  but  no 
sooner  had  she  run  up-stairs,  and  I  heard 
her  steps  in  the  chamber  above  me,  than 
something  seemed  to  be  pushing,  pushing 
me  toward  those  stairs,  whether  I  would  or 
no.  I  tried  to  bold  back,  and  tell  myself 
it  was  nonsense,  and  that  I  was  nervous 


156  THE    GREEN   SATIN   GOWN 

and  foolish ;  it  made  no  difference,  I  had 
to  go  up-stairs. 

"  I  went  softly,  my  shoes  making  no 
noise.  My  own  little  room  was  dark,  for  I 
had  closed  the  blinds  when  the  afternoon 
sun  was  pouring  in  hot  and  bright ;  but  a 
slender  line  of  light  lay  across  the  black 
ness  like  a  long  linger,  and  I  knew  the 
moon  was  shining  in  at  the  windows  of 
the  shed  chamber.  I  did  a  thing  I  had 
never  done  before  in  my  life ;  that  silver 
finger  came  through  the  keyhole,  and  it 
drew  me  to  it.  I  knelt  down  and  looked 
through. 

"  The  big  room  shone  bare  and  white 
in  the  moonlight ;  the  trunks  looked  like 
great  animals  crouching  along  the  walls. 
Annie  stood  in  the  middle  of  the  room,  as 
if  she  were  waiting  or  listening  for  some 
thing.  Then  she  slipped  off  her  shoes  and 


THE    SHED    CHAMBER  157 

went  to  one  of  the  windows  and  opened  it. 
I  had  fastened  it,  but  the  catch  was  old 
and  she  knew  the  trick  of  it,  of  course.  In 
another  moment  something  black  appeared 
over  the  low  sill ;  it  was  a  man's  head. 
My  heart  seemed  to  stand  still.  She 
helped  him,  and  he  got  in  without  making 
a  sound.  He  must  have  climbed  up  the 
big  elm-tree  which  grew  close  against  the 
house.  They  stood  whispering  together 
for  a  few  minutes,  but  I  could  not  hear 
a  word. 

"  The  man  was  in  stocking  feet ;  he  had 
an  evil,  coarse  face,  yet  he  was  good-look 
ing,  too,  in  a  way.  I  thought  the  girl 
seemed  frightened,  and  yet  pleased,  too ; 
and  he  seemed  to  be  praising  her,  I  thought, 
and  once  he  put  his  arms  round  her  and 
kissed  her.  She  went  to  the  wardrobe 
and  opened  it,  but  he  shook  his  head  ;  then 


158  THE    GREEN   SATIN   GO\l\\ 

she  opened  the  great  cedar  trunk,  and  he 
nodded,  and  measured  it  and  got  into  it 
and  sat  down.  It  was  so  deep  that  he 
could  sit  quite  comfortably  with  the  cover 
down.  Annie  shut  it  and  then  opened  it 
again. 

"  I  had  seen  all  I  wanted  to  see.  I 
slipped  down-stairs  as  I  heard  her  move 
toward  the  door ;  when  she  came  down  I 
was  stirring  my  cocoa  on  the  stove,  with 
my  back  to  her.  She  came  round  and 
showed  me  a  bundle  she  had  in  her  hand, 
and  said  she  must  be  going  now.  I  kept 
my  face  in  the  shadow  as  well  as  I  could, 
for  I  was  afraid  I  might  not  be  able  to 
look  just  as  usual ;  but  I  spoke  quietly, 
and  asked  her  if  she  had  found  everything, 
and  wished  her  good  night  as  pleasantly  as  I 
knew  how.  All  the  while  my  head  was  in  a 
whirl  and  my  heart  beat  so  loud  I  thought 


THE    SHED    CHAMBER  159 

she  must  have  heard  it.  There  was  a  good 
deal  of  silver  in  the  house,  and  I  knew  that 
Mr.  Bowles  had  drawn  some  money  from 
the  bank  only  a  day  or  two  before,  to  pay 
a  life-insurance  premium. 

"  I  never  listened  to  anything  as  I  did  to 
the  sound  .of  her  footsteps ;  even  after  they 
had  died  away,  after  she  had  turned  the 
corner,  a  good  way  off,  I  stood  still,  listen 
ing,  not  stirring  hand  or  foot.  But  when  I 
no  longer  heard  any  sound  my  strength 
seemed  to  come  back  with  a  leap,  and  I 
knew  what  I  had  to  do.  I  told  you  my 
shoes  made  no  noise.  I  slipped  up-stairs, 
through  my  own  room,  and  into  the  shed 
chamber.  Girls,  it  lay  so  peaceful  and 
bare  in  the  white  moonlight,  that  for  a 
moment  I  thought  I  must  have  dreamed 
it  all. 

"  It  seemed  half  a  mile   to  the  farther 


160  THE    GREEN   SAT IX    GOWX 

end,  where  the  great  cedar  trunk  stood. 
As  1  went  a  board  creaked  under  my  feet, 
and  I  heard  —  or  fancied  I  heard  —  a  faint 
rustle  inside  the  trunk.  I  began  to  hum  a 
tune,  and  moved  about  among  the  trunks, 
raising  and  shutting  the  lids,  as  if  I  were 
looking  for  something.  Now  at  last  I  was 
beside  the  dreadful  chest,  and  in  another 
instant  I  had  turned  the  key.  Then,  girls, 
I  flewr !  I  knew  the  lock  was  a  stout  one 
and  the  wood  heavy  and  hard  ;  it  would 
take  the  man  some  time  to  get  it  open 
from  the  inside,  whatever  tools  he  might 
have.  I  was  down-stairs  in  one  breath, 
praying  that  I  might  be  able  to  control  my 
voice  so  that  it  wrould  not  sound  strange  to 
the  sick  woman. 

" '  Would  you  mind  if  I  went  out  for  a 
few  minutes,  Mrs.  Bowles  ?  The  moon 
light  is  so  lovely  I  thought  I  would  like  to 


THE    SHED    CHAMBER  161 

take  a  little  walk,  if  there  is  nothing  you 
want.' 

"  She  looked  surprised,  but  said  in  her 
kind  way,  yes,  certainly  I  might  go,  only 
I'd  better  not  go  far. 

"  I  thanked  her,  and  walked  quietly  out 
to  the  end  of  the  garden  walk ;  then  I  ran  ! 
Girls,  I  had  no  idea  I  could  run  so ! 
Strength  seemed  given  me,  for  I  never 
felt  my  body.  I  was  like  a  spirit  flying 
or  a  wind  blowing.  The  road  melted 
away  before  me,  and  all  the  time  I  saw 
two  things  before  my  eyes  as  plain  as  I  see 
you  now,  —  the  evil-faced  man  working 
away  at  the  lock  of  the  cedar  chest,  and 
the  sweet  lady  sitting  in  the  room  below 
with  her  Bible  on  her  knee.  Yes,  I 
thought  of  the  children,  too,  but  it  seemed 
to  me  no  one,  not  even  the  wickedest, 
could  wish  to  hurt  a  child.  So  on  I  ran ! 


162  V'///i    (,-REEN   SATIN   GUtt'X 

"  I  reached  the  first  house,  but  I  knew 
there  was  no  man  there,  only  two  nervous 
old  ladies.  At  the  next  house  I  should  find 
two  men,  George  Brett  and  his  father. 

"  Yes,  Lottie,  my  George,  but  I  had 
never  seen  him  then.  He  had  only  lately 
come  back  from  college.  The  first  I  saw 
of  him  was  two  minutes  later,  when  I  ran 
almost  into  his  arms  as  he  came  out  of  the 
house.  I  can  see  him  now,  in  the  moon 
light,  tall  and  strong,  with  his  surprised 
eyes  on  me.  I  must  have  been  a  wild 
figure,  I  suppose.  I  could  hardly  .speak, 
but  somehow  I  made  him  understand. 

"  He  turned  back  to  the  door  and 
shouted  to  his  father,  who  came  hurrying 
out ;  then  he  looked  at  me.  '  Can  you  run 
back?'  he  asked. 

"  I  nodded.  I  had  no  breath  for  words 
but  plenty  for  running,  I  thought. 


THE    SHED    CHAMBER  163 

"  '  Come  on,  then  ! ' 

"  Girls,  it  was  twice  as  easy  running 
with  that  strong  figure  beside  me.  I 
noticed  in  all  my  hurry  and  distress  how 
easily  he  ran,  and  I  felt  my  feet,  that  had 
grown  heavy  in  the  last  few  steps,  light  as 
air  again.  Once  I  sobbed  for  breath,  and 
he  took  my  hand  as  we  ran,  saying,  '  Cour 
age,  brave  girl ! '  We  ran  on  hand  in  hand, 
and  I  never  failed  again.  We  heard  Mr. 
Br  it's  feet  running,  not  far  behind ;  he 
was  a  strong,  active  man,  but  could  not 
quite  keep  up  with  us. 

"  As  we  neared  the  house,  '  Quiet,'  I 
said ;  {  Mrs.  Bowles  does  not  know.' 

"  He  nodded,  and  we  slipped  in  at  the 
back  door.  In  an  instant  his  shoes  were 
off  and  he  was  up  the  back  stairs  like  a 
cat,  and  I  after  him.  As  we  entered  the 
shed  chamber  the  lid  of  the  cedar  trunk  rose. 


164        Tin-:  tiiiEKx  SATIN  atn\'\ 

I  saw  the  gleam  of  the  evil  black  eyes  and 
the  shine  of  white,  wolfish  teeth.  Without 
a  sound  George  Brett  sprang  past  me ; 
without  a  sound  the  robber  leaped  to  meet 
him.  I  saw  them  in  the  white  light  as 
they  clinched  and  stood  locked  together; 
then  a  mist  came  before  my  eyes  and  I  saw 
nothing  more. 

"  I  did  not  actually  faint,  I  think ;  it 
cannot  have  been  more  than  a  few  minutes 
before  I  came  to  myself.  But  when  I 
looked  again  George  was  kneeling  with  his 
knee  on  the  man's  breast,  holding  him 
down,  and  Father  Brett  was  looking  about 
the  chamber  and  saying,  in  his  dry  way, 
;  Now  where  in  Tunkett  is  the  clothes-line 
to  tie  this  fellow  ? ' 

"  And  the  girl  ?  Annie  ?  0  girls,  she  was 
so  young !  She  was  just  my  own  age  and 
she  had  no  mother.  I  went  to  see  her  the 


THE    SHED    CHAMBER  165 

next  (lay,  and  many  days  after  that.  We 
are  fast  friends  now,  and  she  is  a  good, 
steady  girl ;  and  no  one  knows  —  no  one 
except  our  two  selves  and  two  others  — 
that  she  was  ever  in  the  shed  chamber." 


MAINE  TO  THE   RESCUE 


MAINE   TO   THE  RESCUE 

"  OH,  dear  !  oh,  dear  !     It's  snowing !  " 
"  Hurrah  !  hurrah  !     It's  snowing  !  " 
Massachusetts     looked     up     from     her 
algebra.     She  was  the  head  of  the  school. 
She  was  rosy  and  placid  as  the  apple  she 
was  generally  eating  when    not    in  class. 
Apples  and   algebra   were   the   things    she 
cared  most  about  in  school  life. 

"  Whence  come  these  varying  cries  ? " 
she  said,  taking  her  feet  off  the  fender  and 
trying  to  be  interested,  though  her  thoughts 
went  on  with  "a  ^  b  ==  "  etc. 

"  Oh,  Virginia  is  grumbling  because  it  is 
snowing,  and  Maine  is  feeling  happy  over 
it,  that's  all ! "  said  Rhode  Island,  the 
smallest  girl  in  Miss  Wayland's  school. 

169 


170  THE    GREEN   SATIN   GOWN 

"  Poor  Virginia !  It  is  rather  hard  on 
you  to  have  snow  in  March,  when  you  have 
just  got  your  box  of  spring  clothes  from 
home." 

"  It  is  atrocious ! "  said  Virginia,  a  tall, 
graceful,  languishing  girl.  "  How  could 
they  send  me  to  such  a  place,  where  it  is 
winter  all  the  spring  ?  Why,  at  home  the 
violets  are  in  blossom,  the  trees  are  coining 
out,  the  birds  singing  —  " 

"And  at  home,"  broke  in  Maine,  who 
was  a  tall  girl,  too,  but  lithe  and  breezy  as 
a  young  willow,  with  flyaway  hair  and 
dancing  brown  eyes,  "  at  home  all  is 
winter  —  white,  beautiful,  glorious  winter, 
with  ice  two  or  three  feet  thick  on  the 
rivers,  and  great  fields  and  fields  of  snow, 
all  sparkling  in  the  sun,  and  the  sky  a  vast 
sapphire  overhead,  without  a  speck.  Oh, 
the  glory  of  it,  the  splendor  of  it !  And 


MAINE    TO    THE   RESCUE  171 

here  —  here  it  is  neither  fish,  flesh,  fowl, 
nor  good  red  herring.  A  wretched,  make 
shift  season,  which  they  call  winter  because 
they  don't  know  what  else  to  call  it." 

"  Come  !  come  !  "  said  Old  New  York, 
who  was  seventeen  years  old  and  had  her 
own  ideas  of  dignity.  "  Let  us  alone,  you 
two  outsiders !  We  are  neither  Eskimos 
nor  Hindoos,  it  is  true,  but  the  Empire 
State  would  not  change  climates  with 
either  of  you." 

"  No,  indeed ! "  chimed  in  Young  New 
York,  who  always  followed  her  leader  in 
everything,  from  opinions  down  to  hair- 
ribbons. 

"  No,  indeed  !  "  repeated  Virginia,  with 
languid  scorn.  "  Because  you  couldn't  get 
any  one  to  change  with  you,  my  dear." 

Young  New  York  reddened.  "  You  are 
so  disagreeable,  Virginia  !  "  she  said.  "  I 


172  THE   GREEN  SATIN   GOWN 

am  sure  I  am  glad  I  don't  have  to  live  with 
you  all  the  year  round  - 

"  Personal  remarks !  "  said  Massachu 
setts,  looking  up  calmly.  "  One  cent, 
Young  New  York,  for  the  missionary  fund. 
Thank  you !  Let  me  give  you  each  half 
an  apple,  and  you  will  feel  better." 

She  solemnly  divided  a  large  red  apple, 
and  gave  the  halves  to  the  two  scowling 
girls,  who  took  them,  laughing  in  spite  of 
themselves,  and  went  their  separate  ways. 

"  Why  didn't  you  let  them  have  it  out, 
Massachusetts  ? "  said  Maine,  laughing. 
"  You  never  let  any  one  have  a  good 
row." 

"  Slang !  "  said  Massachusetts,  looking 
up  again.  "  One  cent  for  the  missionary 
fund.  You  will  clothe  the  heathen  at  this 
rate,  Maine.  That  is  the  fourth  cent 
to-day." 


MAINE    TO    THE    RESCUE  173 

"  '  Row  '  isn't  slang !  "  protested  Maine, 
feeling,  however,  for  her  pocket-book. 

"Vulgar  colloquial!"  returned  Massa 
chusetts,  quietly.  "  And  perhaps  you 
would  go  away  now,  Maine,  or  else  be 
quiet.  Have  you  learned  —  " 

"  No,  I  haven't !  "  said  Maine.  "  I  will 
do  it  very  soon,  dear  Saint  Apple.  I  must 
look  at  the  snow  a  little  more." 

Maine  went  dancing  off  to  her  room, 
where  she  threw  the  window  open  and 
looked  out  with  delight.  The  girl  caught 
up  a  double  handful  and  tossed  it  about, 
laughing  for  pure  pleasure.  Then  she 
leaned  out  to  feel  the  beating  of  the  flakes 
on  her  face. 

"  Really  quite  a  respectable  little  snow 
storm  !  "  she  said,  nodding  approval  at  the 
whirling  white  drift.  "  Go  on,  and  you 
will  be  worth  while,  my  dear."  She  went 


174  THE    GREEN    SAT IX   GOWN 

singing  to  her  algebra,  which  she  could  not 
have  done  if  it  had  not  been  snowing. 

The  snow  went  on  increasing  from  hour 
to  hour.  By  noon  the  wind  began  to  rise  ; 
before  night  it  was  blowing  a  furious  gale. 
Furious  blasts  clutched  at  the  windows,  and 
rattled  them  like  castanets.  The  wind 
howled  and  shrieked  and  moaned,  till  it 
seemed  as  if  the  air  were  filled  with  angry 
demons  fighting  to  possess  the  square  white 
house. 

Many  of  the  pupils  of  Miss  Wayland's 
school  came  to  the  tea-table  with  disturbed 
faces ;  but  Massachusetts  was  as  calm  as 
usual,  and  Maine  was  jubilant. 

"Isn't  it  a  glorious  storm?"  she  cried, 
exultingly.  "  I  didn't  know  there  could  be 
such  a  storm  in  this  part  of  the  country, 
Miss  Wayland.  Will  you  give  me  some 
milk,  please?" 


MA1XE    TO    THE    RESCUE  175 

"  There  is  no  milk,  my  dear,"  said  Miss 
Wayland,  who  looked  rather  troubled. 
••  The  milkman  has  not  come,  and  prob 
ably  will  not  come  to-night.  There  has 
never  been  such  a  storm  here  in  my  life 
time  !  "  she  added.  "  Do  you  have  such 
storms  at  home,  my  dear?" 

"  Oh,  yes,  indeed  !  "  Maine  said,  cheer 
fully.  "  I  don't  know  that  we  often  have 
so  much  wind  as  this,  but  the  snow  is 
nothing  out  of  the  way.  Why,  on  Palm 
Sunday  last  year  our  milkman  dug  through 
a  drift  twenty  feet  deep  to  get  at  his  cows. 
He  was  the  only  milkman  who  ventured 
out,  and  he  took  me  and  the  minister's 
wife  to  church  in  his  little  red  pung. 

"  We  were  the  only  women  in  church,  I 
remember.  Miss  Betsy  Follansbee,  who 
had  not  missed  going  to  church  in  fifteen 
years,  started  on  foot,  after  climbing  out  of 


176  THE    (JREEX   SATIS    GU\\\\ 

her  bedroom  window  to  the  shed  roof  and 
sliding  down.  All  her  doors  were  blocked 
up,  and  she  lived  alone,  so  there  was  no 
one  to  dig  her  out.  But  she  got  stuck  in  a 
drift  about  half-way,  and  had  to  stay  there 
till  one  of  the  neighbors  came  by  and  pulled 
her  out." 

All  the  girls  laughed  at  this,  and  even 
Miss  Way  land  .smiled ;  but  suddenly  she 
looked  grave  again. 

"  Hark  !  "  she  said,  and  listened.  "  Did 
you  not  hear  something  ?" 

"  We  hear  Boreas,  Auster,  Eurus,  and 
Zephyrus,"  answered  Old  New  York. 
"Nothing  else." 

At  that  moment  there  was  a  lull  in  the 
screeching  of  the  wind ;  all  listened  in 
tently,  and  a  faint  sound  was  heard 
from  without  which  was  not  that  of  the 
blast. 


MAINE    TO    THE    RESCUE  177 

"A  child!"  said  Massachusetts,  rising 
quickly.  "  It  is  a  child's  voice.  I  will  go, 
Miss  Wayland." 

"  I  cannot  permit  it,  Alice  !  "  cried  Miss 
Wayland,  in  great  distress.  "  I  cannot 
allow  you  to  think  of  it.  You  are  just 
recovering  from  a  severe  cold,  and  I  am 
responsible  to  your  parents.  What  shall 
we  do  ?  It  certainly  sounds  like  a  child 
crying  out  in  the  pitiless  storm.  Of  course 
it  may  be  a  cat  —  " 

Maine  had  gone  to  the  window  at  the 
first  alarm,  and  now  turned  with  shining 
eyes. 

"It  is  a  child!"  she  said,  quietly.  "I 
have  no  cold,  Miss  Wayland.  I  am  going, 
of  course." 

Passing  by  Massachusetts,  who  had 
started  out  of  her  usual  calm  and  stood 
in  some  perplexity,  she  whispered,  "If  it 


178  THE    ORE  EX    SATIX    GUWX 

were  freezing,  it  wouldn't  cry.  I  .shall  be 
in  time.  Get  a  ball  of  stout  twine." 

She  disappeared.  In  three  minutes  she 
returned,  dressed  in  her  blanket  coat, 
reaching  half-way  below  her  knees,  scarlet 
leggings  and  gaily  wrought  moccasins  ;  on 
her  head  a  fur  cap,  with  a  band  of  sea-otter 
fur  projecting  over  her  eyes.  In  her  hand 
she  held  a  pair  of  snow-shoes.  She  had 
had  no  opportunity  to  wear  her  snow- 
shoeing  suit  all  winter,  and  she  was  quite 
delighted. 

"  My  child  !  "  said  Miss  Wayland,  faintly. 
"  How  can  I  let  you  go  ?  My  duty  to  your 
parents  —  what  are  those  strange  things, 
and  what  use  are  you  going  to  make  of 
them?" 

By  way  of  answer  Maine  slipped  her 
feet  into  the  snow-shoes,  and,  with  Massa 
chusetts'  aid,  quickly  fastened  the  thongs. 


MAINE    TO    THE   RESCUE  179 

"The  twine!"  she  said.  "Yes,  that 
will  do ;  plenty  of  it.  Tie  it  to  the  door 
handle,  square  knot,  so !  I'm  all  right, 
dear;  don't  worry."  Like  a  flash  the  girl 
was  gone  out  into  the  howling  night. 

Miss  Wayland  wrung  her  hands  and 
wept,  and  most  of  the  girls  wept  with 
her.  Virginia,  who  was  curled  up  in  a 
corner,  really  sick  with  fright,  beckoned  to 
Massachusetts. 

"  Is  there  any  chance  of  her  coming  back 
alive  ? "  she  asked,  in  a  whisper.  "  I  wish 
I  had  made  up  with  her.  But  we  may  all 
die  in  this  awful  storm." 

"  Nonsense  !  "  said  Massachusetts.  "  Try 
to  have  a  little  sense,  Virginia !  Maine  is 
all  right,  and  can  take  care  of  herself ;  and 
as  for  whimpering  at  the  wind,  when  you 
have  a  good  roof  over  your  head,  it  is  too 
absurd." 


180  THE    GREEN    N.I  77 X    (;o]VX 

For  the  first  time  since  she  came  to 
school  Massachusetts  forgot  the  study  hour, 
as  did  every  one  else ;  and  in  spite  of  her 
brave  efforts  at  cheerful  conversation,  it 
was  a  sad  and  an  anxious  group  that  sat 
about  the  fire  in  the  pleasant  parlor. 

Maine  went  out  quickly,  and  closed  the 
door  behind  her  ;  then  stood  still  a  moment, 
listening  for  the  direction  of  the  cry.  She 
did  not  hear  it  at  first,  but  presently  it 
broke  out  —  a  piteous  little  wail,  sounding 
louder  now  in  the  open  air.  The  girl  bent 
her  head  to  listen.  Where  was  the  child? 
The  voice  came  from  the  right,  surely ! 
She  would  make  her  \vay  down  to  the  road, 
and  then  she  could  tell  better. 

Grasping  the  ball  of  twine  firmly,  she 
stepped  forward,  planting  the  broad  snow- 
si  loes  lightly  in  the  soft,  dry  snow.  As 
she  turned  the  corner  of  the  house  an  icy 


MAINE    TO    THE   RESCUE  181 

blast  caught  her,  as  if  with  furious  hands, 
shook  her  like  a  leaf,  and  flung  her  roughly 
against  the  wall. 

Her  forehead  struck  the  corner,  and  for 
a  moment  she  was  stunned ;  but  the  blood 
trickling  down  her  face  quickly  brought 
her  to  herself.  She  set  her  teeth,  folded 
her  arms  tightly,  and  stooping  forward, 
measured  her  strength  once  more  with 
that  of  the  gale. 

This  time  it  seemed  as  if  she  were  cleav 
ing  a  wall  of  ice,  which  opened  only  to 
close  behind  her.  On  she  struggled,  un 
rolling  her  twine  as  she  went. 

The  child's  cry  sounded  louder,  and  she 
took  fresh  heart.  Pausing,  she  clapped 
her  hand  to  her  mouth  repeatedly,  utter 
ing  a  shrill,  long  call.  It  was  the  Indian 
whoop,  which  her  father  had  taught  her  in 
their  woodland  rambles  at  home. 


182  THE    GREEN   SATIN   GOWN 

The  childish  wail  stopped  ;  she  repeated 
the  cry  louder  and  longer ;  then  shouted, 
at  the  top  of  her  lungs,  "  Hold  on  !  Help 
is  coming ! " 

Again  and  again  the  wind  buffeted  her, 
and  forced  her  backward  a  step  or  two ; 
but  she  lowered  her  head,  and  wrapped 
her  arms  more  tightly  about  her  body,  and 
plodded  on. 

Once  she  fell,  stumbling  over  a  stump ; 
twice  she  ran  against  a  tree,  for  the  white 
darkness  was  absolutely  blinding,  and  she 
saw  nothing,  felt  nothing  but  snow,  snow. 
At  last  her  snow-shoe  struck  something 
hard.  She  stretched  out  her  hands  —  it 
was  the  stone  wall.  And  now,  as  she  crept 
along  beside  it,  the  child's  wail  broke  out 
again  close  at  hand. 

"  Mother  !     0  mother !     mother !  " 

The  girl's  heart  beat  fast. 


MAINE    TO    THE   RESCUE  183 

"Where  are  you?"  she  cried.  At  the 
same  moment  she  stumbled  against  some 
thing  soft.  A  mound  of  snow,  was  it  ? 
No !  for  it  moved.  It  moved  and  cried, 
and  little  hands  clutched  her  dress. 

She  saw  nothing,  but  put  her  hands 
down,  and  touched  a  little  cold  face.  She 
dragged  the  child  out  of  the  snow,  which 
had  almost  covered  it,  and  set  it  on  its 
feet. 

"  Who  are  you  ?"  she  asked,  putting  her 
face  clown  close,  while  by  vigorous  patting 
and  rubbing  she  tried  to  give  life  to  the 
benumbed,  cowering  little  figure,  which 
staggered  along  helplessly,  clutching  her 
with  half-frozen  fingers. 

"Benny  Withers!"  sobbed  the  child. 
"  Mother  sent  me  for  the  clothes,  but  I 
can't  get  'em  !  " 

"  Benny  Withers  !  "  cried  Maine.    "  Why 


184  THE    GREEN   SATIN    GOWN 

you  live  close  by.  Why  didn't  you  go 
home,  child?" 

"  I  can't !  "  cried  the  boy.  "  I  can't  see 
nothing.  I  tried  to  get  to  the  school,  an' 
I  tried  to  get  home,  an'  I  can't  get  no 
where  'cept  against  this  wall.  Let  me 
stay  here  now !  I  want  to  rest  me  a 
little." 

He  would  have  sunk  down  again,  but 
Maine  caught  him  up  in  her  strong,  young 
arms. 

"  Here,  climb  up  on  my  back,  Benny  !  " 
she  said,  cheerfully.  ''  Hold  on  tight  round 
my  neck,  and  you  shall  rest  while  I  take 
you  home.  So !  That's  a  brave  boy ! 
Upsy,  now  !  there  you  are  !  Now  put  your 
head  on  my  shoulder  —  close !  and  hold 
on !  " 

Ah  !  how  Maine  blessed  the  heavy  little 
brother  at  home,  who  would  ride  on  his 


MAINE    TO    THE    RESCUE  185 

sister's  back,  long  after  mamma  said  he 
was  too  big.  How  she  blessed  the  carry 
ings  up  and  down  stairs,  the  "  horsey 
rides "  through  the  garden  and  down  the 
lane,  which  had  made  her  shoulders 
strong! 

Benny  Withers  was  eight  years  old,  but 
he  was  small  and  slender,  and  no  heavier 
than  six-year-old  Philip.  No  need  of  tell 
ing  the  child  to  hold  on,  once  he  was  up 
out  of  the  cruel  snow  bed.  He  clung 
desperately  round  the  girl's  neck,  and 
pressed  his  head  close  against  the  woollen 
stuff. 

Maine  pulled  her  ball  of  twine  from  her 
pocket  —  fortunately  it  was  a  large  one, 
and  the  twine,  though  strong,  was  fine,  so 
that  there  seemed  to  be  no  end  to  it  —  and 
once  more  lowered  her  head,  and  set  her 
teeth,  and  moved  forward,  keeping  close  to 


186  TllK    d  HE  EN   SATIN   GOWN 

the  wall,  in  the  direction  of  Mrs.  Withers's 
cottage. 

For  awhile  she  saw  nothing,  when  she 
looked  up  under  the  fringe  of  otter  fur, 
which,  long  and  soft,  kept  the  snow  from 
blinding  her ;  nothing  but  the  white,  whirl 
ing  drift  which  beat  with  icy,  stinging 
blows  in  her  face.  But  at  last  her  eyes 
caught  a  faint  glimmer  of  light,  and  pres 
ently  a  brighter  gleam  showed  her  Mrs. 
Withers's  gray  cottage,  now  white  like  the 
rest  of  the  world. 

Bursting  open  the  cottage  door,  she 
almost  threw  the  child  into  the  arms  of  his 
mother. 

The  woman,  who  had  been  weeping 
wildly,  could  hardly  believe  her  eyes.  She 
caught  the  little  boy  and  smothered  him 
with  kisses,  chafing  his  cold  hands,  and 
crying  over  him. 


MAINE    TO    THE    RESCUE  187 

"  I  didn't  know  !  "  she  said.  «  I,  didn't 
know  till  he  was  gone.  I  told  him  at  noon 
he  was  to  go,  never  thinking  'twould  be 
like  this.  I  was  sure  he  was  lost  and  dead, 
but  I  couldn't  leave  my  sick  baby.  Bless 
you,  whoever  you  are,  man  or  woman ! 
But  stay  and  get  warm,  and  rest  ye ! 
You're  never  going  out  again  in  this  awful 
storm  !  " 

But  Maine  was  gone. 

In  Miss  Wayland's  parlor  the  suspense 
was  fast  becoming  unendurable.  They  had 
heard  Maine's  Indian  whoop,  and  some  of 
them,  Miss  Wayland  herself  among  the 
number,  thought  it  was  a  cry  of  distress ; 
but  Massachusetts  rightly  interpreted  the 
call,  and  assured  them  that  it  was  a 
call  of  encouragement  to  the  bewildered 
child. 

Then  came  silence  within  the  house,  and 


188  THE    GREEX    SATIN   GOWX 

a  prolonged  clamor  —  a  sort  of  witches' 
chorus,  with  wailing  and  shrieking  with 
out.  Once  a  heavy  branch  was  torn  from 
one  of  the  great  elms,  and  came  thundering 
down  on  the  roof.  This  proved  the  finish 
ing  touch  for  poor  Virginia.  She  went 
into  violent  hysterics,  and  was  carried  off 
to  bed  by  Miss  Way  land  and  Old  New 
York. 

Massachusetts  presently  ventured  to  ex 
plore  a  little.  She  hastened  through  the 
hall  to  the  front  door,  opened  it  a  few 
inches,  and  put  her  hand  on  the  twine 
which  was  fastened  to  the  handle.  What 
was  her  horror  to  find  that  it  hung  loose, 
swinging  idly  in  the  wind  !  Sick  at  heart, 
she  shut  the  door,  and  pressing  her  hands 
over  her  eyes,  tried  to  think. 

Maine  must  be  lost  in  the  howling  storm  ! 
She  must  find  her ;  but  where  and  how  ? 


MAINE    TO    THE    RESCUE  189 

Oh  !  if  Miss  Wayland  had  only  let  her 
go  at  first !  She  was  older  ;  it  would  not 
have  mattered  so  much. 

But  now,  quick  !  she  would  wrap  her 
self  warmly,  and  slip  out  without  any  one 
knowing. 

The  girl  was  turning  to  fly  up-stairs, 
when  suddenly  something  fell  heavily 
against  the  door  outside.  There  was  a 
fumbling  for  the  handle ;  the  next  moment 
it  flew  open,  and  something  white  stumbled 
into  the  hall,  shut  the  door,  and  sat  down 
heavily  on  the  floor. 

"  Personal  --  rudeness  !  "  gasped  Maine, 
struggling  for  breath.  "  You  shut  the 
door  in  my  face  !  One  cent  for  the  mission 
ary  fund." 

The  great  storm  was  over.  The  sun 
came  up,  and  looked  down  on  a  strange, 


190  THE    GREEN   SATIN    GOWN 

white  world.  No  fences,  no  walls ;  only  a 
smooth  ridge  where  one  of  these  had  been. 
Trees  which  the  day  before  had  been  quite 
tall  now  looked  like  dwarfs,  spreading 
their  broad  arms  not  far  from  the  snow 
carpet  beneath  them.  Road  there  was 
none ;  all  was  smooth,  save  where  some 
huge  drift  nodded  its  crest  like  a  billow 
curling  for  its  downward  rush. 

Maine,  spite  of  her  scarred  face,  which 
showed  as  many  patches  as  that  of  a  court 
lady  in  King  George's  times,  was  jubilant. 
Tired !  not  a  bit  of  it !  A  little  stiff,  just 
enough  to  need  "  limbering  out,"  as  they 
said  at  home. 

"  There  is  no  butter  !  "  she  announced 
at  breakfast.  "  There  is  no  milk,  no  meat 
for  dinner.  Therefore,  I  go  a-snow-shoeing. 
Dear  Miss  Wayland,  let  me  go  !  I  have 
learned  my  algebra,  and  I  shall  be  dis- 


MAINE    TO    THE   RESCUE  191 

covering  unknown  quantities  at  every  step, 
which  will  be  just  as  instructive." 

Miss  Wayland  could  refuse  nothing  to 
the  heroine  of  last  night's  adventure.  Be 
hold  Maine,  therefore,  triumphant,  sallying 
forth,  clad  once  more  in  her  blanket  suit, 
and  dragging  her  sled  behind  her. 

There  was  no  struggling  now  —  no  hand- 
to-hand  wrestling  with  storm-demons.  The 
sun  laughed  from  a  sky  as  blue  and  deep 
as  her  own  sky  of  Maine,  and  the  girl 
laughed  with  him  as  she  walked  along,  the 
powdery  snow  flying  in  a  cloud  from  her 
snow-shoes  at  every  step. 

Such  a  sight  had  never  been  seen  in 
Mentor  village  before.  The  people  came 
running  to  their  upper  windows  —  their 
lower  ones  were  for  the  most  part  buried 
in  snow  —  and  stared  with  all  their  eyes 
at  the  strange  apparition. 


192  THE    GREEN  SATIN   GOWN 

In  the  street,  life  was  beginning  to  stir. 
People  had  found,  somewhat  to  their  own 
surprise,  that  they  were  alive  and  well 
after  the  blizzard ;  and  knots  of  men  were 
clustered  here  and  there,  discussing  the 
storm,  while  some  were  already  at  work 
tunnelling  through  the  drifts. 

Mr.  Perkins,  the  butcher,  had  just  got 
his  door  open,  and  great  was  his  amazement 
when  Maine  hailed  him  from  the  top  of 
a  great  drift,  and  demanded  a  quarter  of 
mutton  with  some  soup  meat. 

"  Yes,  miss  !  "  lie  stammered,  open- 
mouthed  with  astonishment.  "I  —  I've 
got  the  meat ;  but  I  wasn't  —  my  team 
isn't  out  this  morning.  I  don't  know 
about  sending  it." 

"  I  have  a  '  team  '  here  !  "  said  Maine, 
quietly,  pulling  her  sled  alongside.  "  Give 
me  the  mutton,  Mr.  Perkins ;  you  may 


r 


"  MAINK     I1AILKD     HIM     FROM     THE     TOP     OF     A     ORKAT 
DRIFT." 


MAINE    TO    THE  RESCUE  193 

charge  it  to  Miss  Wayland,  please,  and  I 
will  take  it  home." 

The  butter-man  and  the  grocer  were 
visited  in  the  same  way,  and  Maine,  rather 
embarrassed  by  the  concentrated  observa 
tion  of  the  whole  village,  turned  to 
pull  her  laden  sled  back,  when  suddenly 
a  window  was  thrown  open,  and  a  voice 
exclaimed  : 

"  Young  woman !  I  will  give  you  ten 
dollars  for  the  use  of  those  snow-shoes  for 
an  hour !  " 

Maine  looked  up  in  amazement,  and 
laughed  merrily  when  she  saw  the  well- 
known  countenance  of  the  village  doctor. 

"  What !  You,  my  dear  young  lady  ?  " 
cried  the  good  man.  "  This  is  '  Maine  to 
the  Rescue,'  indeed  !  I  might  have  known 
it  was  you.  But  I  repeat  my  offer.  Make 
it  anything  you  please,  only  let  me  have 


194  THE    GREEN   SATIN   GOWN 

the  snow-shoes.  I  cannot  get  a  horse  out, 
and  have  two  patients  dangerously  ill. 
What  is  your  price  for  the  magic  shoes?" 

"My  price,  doctor?"  repeated  Maine, 
looking  up  with  dancing  eyes.  "  My  price 
is  —  one  cent.  For  the  Missionary  Fund  ! 
The  snow-shoes  are  yours,  and  I  will  get 
home  somehow  with  my  sled  and  the 
mutton." 

So  she  did,  and  Doctor  Fowler  made  his 
calls  with  the  snow-shoes,  and  saved  a  life, 
and  brought  cheer  and  comfort  to  many. 
But  it  was  ten  dollars,  and  not  one  cent, 
which  he  gave  to  the  Missionary  Fund. 


THE   SCARLET   LEAVES 


THE   SCARLET   LEAVES 

"  THE  Committee  will  please  come  to 
order  !  "  said  Maine. 

"  What's  up  ?  "  asked  Massachusetts, 
pausing  in  her  occupation  of  peeling 
chestnuts. 

"  Why,  you  know  well  enough,  Massa 
chusetts.  Here  it  is  Wednesday,  and  we 
don't  know  yet  what  we  are  going  to  do  on 
Friday  evening.  We  must  do  something, 
or  go  shamed  to  our  graves.  Never  a 
senior  class  has  missed  its  Frivolous  Fri 
day,  since  the  school  began." 

"  Absolutely  no  hope  of  the  play  ?" 

"None!  Alma's  part  is  too  important; 
no  one  could  possibly  take  it  at  two  days' 
notice.  Unless  —  they  say  Chicago  has  a 

197 


198  THE    GREEN   SA'J'JX    <JOWX 

real  gift  for  acting;  but  somehow,  I  don't 
feel  as  if  she  were  the  person." 

"  I  should  bar  that,  positively,"  put  in 
Tennessee.  "  In  the  first  place,  Chicago 
has  not  been  here  long  enough  to  be  identi 
fied  with  the  class.  She  is  clever,  of 
course,  or  she  could  not  have  entered 
junior  last  year;  but  —  well,  it  isn't  neces 
sary  to  say  anything  more ;  she  is  out  of 
the  question." 

"  It  is  too  exasperating  !  "  said  Massachu 
setts.  "  Alma  might  have  waited  another 
week  before  coining  down  with  measles." 

"  It's  harder  for  her  than  for  any  one 
else,  Massachusetts,"  said  Maine.  "  Poor 
dear ;  she  almost  cried  her  eyes  out  yester 
day,  when  the  spots  appeared,  and  there 
was  no  more  doubt." 

"  Yes,  I  know  that ;  she  is  a  poor,  un 
fortunate  Lamb,  and  I  love  her,  you  know 


THE    SCARLET  LEAVES  199 

1  do ;  still,  a  growl  may  be  permitted, 
Maine.  There's  nothing  criminal  in  a 
growl.  The  question  is,  as  you  were  say 
ing,  what  shall  we  do  ?  " 

"A  dance?" 

"  We  had  a  dance  last  week ! "  said 
Maine ;  "  at  least  the  sophomores  did,  and 
we  don't  want  to  copy  them." 

"  A  straw-ride  ?  " 

"  A  candy-pull  ?  " 

"  A  concert  ?  " 

"  The  real  question  is,"  said  Tennessee, 
cracking  her  chestnut  leisurely,  "  what  does 
Maine  intend  to  do  ?  If  she  thinks  we 
made  her  Class  President  because  we  meant 
to  arrange  things  ourselves,  she  is  more 
ignorant  than  I  supposed  her.  Probably 
she  has  the  whole  thing  settled  in  her 
Napoleonic  mind.  Out  with  it,  Moose- 
tocmaguntic ! " 


200  T//I-:    CUE  EX   SATIX   GOWN 

Maine  smiled,  and  looked  round  her. 
The  Committee  was  clustered  in  a  group  at 
the  foot  of  a  great  chestnut-tree,  at  the 
very  edge  of  a  wood.  The  leaves  were  still 
thick  on  the  trees,  and  the  October  sun 
shone  through  their  golden  masses,  pouring 
a  flood  of  warmth  and  light  down  on  the 
greensward,  sprinkled  with  yellow  leaves 
and  half-open  chestnut  burrs.  Massachu 
setts  and  Tennessee,  sturdy  and  four-square 
as  their  own  hills  ;  Old  New  York  and  New 
Jersey,  and  Maine  herself,  a  tall  girl  with 
clear,  kind  eyes,  and  a  color  that  came 
and  went  as  she  talked.  This  was  the 
Committee. 

"Well,"  said  Maine,  modestly.  "I  did 
have  an  idea,  girls.  I  don't  know  whether 
you  will  approve  or  not,  but  —  what  do 
you  say  to  a  fancy  ball?" 

•'  A  fancy  ball !  at  two  days'  notice  !  " 


•  •     .  - >• 

THK    CONFF.KUNCE. 


THE    SCARLET  LEA  VES  201 

"  Penobscot  is  losing  her  mind.  Pity  to 
see  it  shattered,  for  it  was  once  a  fine 
organ." 

"  Be  quiet,  Tennessee  !  I  don't  mean  any 
thing  elaborate,  of  course.  But  I  thought 
we  might  have  an  informal  frolic,  and  dress 
up  in  —  oh,  anything  we  happened  to  have. 
Not  call  it  a  dance,  but  have  dancing  all 
the  same ;  don't  you  see  ?  There  are  all 
kinds  of  costumes  that  can  be  got  up  with 
very  little  trouble,  and  no  expense  to  speak 
of." 

"For  example!"  said  Massachusetts. 
"  She  has  it  all  arranged,  girls ;  all  we 
have  to  do  is  to  sit  back  and  let  wisdom 
flow  in  our  ears." 

"  Massachusetts,  if  you  tease  me  any 
more,  I'll  sit  back,  and  let  you  do  it  all 
yourself.  Well,  then  —  let  me  see  !  Ten 
nessee —  to  tell  the  truth,  I  didn't  sleep 


202  THE    GREEN   SATIN    GOWN 

very  well  last  night ;  my  head  ached ;  and 
I  amused  myself  by  planning  a  few  cos 
tumes,  just  in  case  you  should  fancy  the 
idea." 

"  Quack  !  quack  !  "  said  Massachusetts. 
"  I  didn't  mean  to  interrupt,  but  you  are  a 
duck,  and  I  must  just  show  that  I  can 
speak  your  language.  Go  on  !  " 

"  Tennessee,  I  thought  you  might  be 
an  Indian.  You  must  have  something 
that  will  show  your  hair.  With  my 
striped  shawl  for  a  blanket,  and  the  cock's 
feather  out  of  Jersey's  hat  —  what  do  you 
think?" 

"  Perfect !  "  said  Tennessee.  "  And  I 
can  try  effects  with  my  new  paint-box,  one 
cheek  stripes,  the  other  spots.  Hurrah  ! 
next ! " 

"  Old  New  York,  you  must  be  a  flower 
of  some  kind.  Or  —  why  not,  a  basket  ol 


THE   SCARLET  LEAVES  203 

flowers  ?  You  could  have  a  basket-work 
bodice,  don't  you  see  ?  and  flowers  coming 
out  of  it  all  round  your  neck  —  your  neck 
is  so  pretty,  you  ought  to  show  it  —  " 

"Or  carrots  and  turnips!"  said  the  ir 
repressible  Massachusetts.  "  Call  her  a 
Harvest  Hamper,  and  braid  her  lovely 
locks  with  strings  of  onions ! " 

"  Thank  you,"  laughed  Old  New  York,  a 
slender  girl  whose  flower-like  beauty  made 
her  a  pleasure  to  look  at.  "  I  think  I'll 
keep  to  the  posy,  Massachusetts.  Go  on, 
Maine !  what  shall  Massachusetts  be,  and 
what  will  you  be  yourself  ? " 

"  Massachusetts  ought  by  rights  to  be 
an  apple,  a  nice  fat  rosy  apple ;  but  I 
don't  quite  know  how  that  can  be  man 
aged." 

"  Then  I  shall  be  a  codfish  ! "  said  Mas 
sachusetts,  decidedly.  "  I  am  not  going  to 


204  THE    GREEN   SATIN   GOWN 

desert  Mr.  Micawber  —  I  mean  the  Bay 
State.  I  shall  go  as  a  salt  codfish.  Dixi! 
Pass  on  to  the  Pine-Tree  !  " 

"  Why,  so  I  might  be  a  pine-tree !  I 
didn't  think  of  that.  But  still,  I  don't 
think  I  will ;  I  meant  to  be  October.  The 
leaves  at  home  are  so  glorious  in  October, 
and  I  saw  some  scarlet  leaves  yesterday 
that  will  be  lovely  for  chaplets  and  gar 
lands." 

"  What  are  they  ?  the  maples  don't  turn 
red  here  —  too  near  the  sea,  I  suppose." 

"  I  don't  know  what  they  are.  Pointed 
leaves,  rather  long  and  delicate,  and  the 
most  splendid  color  you  ever  saw.  There 
is  just  this  one  little  tree,  near  the  cross 
road  by  the  old  stone  house.  I  haven't 
seen  anything  like  it  about  here.  I  found 
it  yesterday,  and  just  stood  and  looked  at 
it,  it  was  so  beautiful.  Yes,  I  shall  be 


THE    SCARLET  LEAVES  205 

October  ;  I'll  decide  on  that.  What's  that 
rustling  in  the  wood  ?  aren't  we  all  here  ? 
I  thought  I  heard  something  moving  among 
the  trees.  I  do  believe  some  one  is  in  there, 
Massachusetts . ' ' 

"  I  was  pulling  down  a  branch  ;  don't  be 
imaginative,  my  dear.  Well,  go  on !  are 
we  to  make  out  all  the  characters  ?  " 

"  Why  —  I  thought  not.  Some  of  the 
girls  will  like  better  to  choose  their  own, 
don't  you  think  ?  I  thought  we,  as  the 
Committee,  might  make  out  a  list  of  sug 
gestions,  though,  and  then  they  can  do  as 
they  please.  But  now,  I  wish  some  of  you 
others  would  suggest  something ;  I  don't 
want  to  do  it  all." 

"  Daisy  will  have  to  be  her  namesake,  of 
course,"  said  Tennessee. 

"Jersey  can  be  a  mosquito,"  said  Old 
New  York  ;  "  she's  just  the  figure  for  it." 


206  THE    GREEN  SATIN   GOWN 

"  Thank  you !  "  said  Jersey,  who  weighed 
ninety  pounds.  "  Going  on  that  theory, 
Pennsylvania  ought  to  go  as  an  elephant, 
and  Rhode  Island  as  a  giraffe." 

"  And  Chicago  as  a  snake  —  no  !  I  didn't 
mean  that !  "  cried  Maine. 

"  You  said  it !  you  said  it !  "  cried  several 
voices,  in  triumph. 

"  The  Charitable  Organ  has  called  names 
at  last !  "  said  Jersey,  laughing.  "  And 
she  has  hit  it  exactly.  Now,  Maine,  what 
is  the  use  of  looking  pained  ?  the  girl  is  a 
snake  —  or  a  sneak,  which  amounts  to  tl it- 
same  thing.  Let  us  have  truth,  I  say,  at 
all  hazards." 

"  I  am  sorry  !  "  said  Maine,  simply.  '•  I 
am  not  fond  of  Chicago,  and  that  is  the  very 
reason  why  I  should  not  call  her  names  be 
hind  her  back.  It  slipped  out  before  I  knew 
it;  I  am  sorry  and  ashamed,  and  that  is  all 


THE   SCARLET  LEAVES  207 

there  is  to  say.  And  now,  suppose  we  go 
home,  and  tell  the  other  girls  about  the 
party." 

The  Committee  trooped  off  across  the 
hill,  laughing  and  talking,  Maine  alone 
grave  and  silent.  As  their  voices  died 
away,  the  ferns  nodded  beside  a  great  pine- 
tree  that  stood  just  within  the  border  of 
the  wood,  not  six  yards  from  where  they 
had  been  sitting.  A  slender  dark  girl  rose 
from  the  fern-chimp  in  which  she  had  been 
crouching,  and  shook  the  pine-needles  from 
her  dress.  Very  cautiously  she  parted  the 
screen  of  leaves,  and  looked  after  the  re 
treating  girls. 

"  That  was  worth  while  !  "  she  said  ; 
and  her  voice,  though  quiet,  was  full  of 
ugly  meaning.  "  Snakes  can  hear,  Miss 
Oracle,  and  bite,  too.  We'll  see  about 
those  scarlet  leaves !  " 


208  THE   GREEN   SATIN   GOWN 

PART    II. 

"  Tra  la,  tra  lee, 
I  want  my  tea  ! " 

Sang  Tennessee,  as  she  ran  up-stairs. 
"  Oh,  Maine,  is  that  you  ?  my  dear,  my 
costume  is  simply  too  perfect  for  anything. 
I've  been  out  in  the  woods,  practising  my 
war-whoop.  Three  yelps  and  a  screech  ; 
I  flatter  myself  it  is  the  most  blood-cur 
dling  screech  you  ever  heard.  I'm  going 
to  have  a  dress-rehearsal  now,  all  by  my 
self.  Come  and  see  —  why,  what's  the 
matter,  Maine  ?  something  is  wrong  with 
you.  What  is  it?" 

"  Oh !  nothing  serious,"  said  Maine, 
trying  to  speak  lightly.  "  I  must  get  up 
another  costume,  that's  all,  and  there  isn't 
much  time." 

"  Why  !  what  has  happened  ?  " 

"  The  scarlet  leaves  are  gone." 


THE    SCARLET   LEAVES  209 

"  Gone  !  fallen,  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"  No  !  some  one  has  cut  or  broken  every 
branch.  There  is  not  one  left.  The  leaves 
made  the  whole  costume,  you  see ;  it 
amounts  to  nothing  without  them,  merely 
a  yellow  gown." 

"  Oh  !  my  dear,  what  a  shame  !  Who 
could  have  taken  them  ?  " 

"  I  cannot  imagine.  I  thought  I  would 
get  them  to-day,  and  keep  them  in  water 
over  night,  so  as  to  have  them  all  ready 
to-morrow.  Oh,  well,  it  can't  be  helped. 
1  can  call  myself  a  sunflower,  or  Black- 
eyed  Susan,  or  some  other  yellow  thing. 
It's  absurd  to  mind,  of  course,  only  — " 

"  Only,  being  human,  you  do  mind,"  said 
Tennessee,  putting  her  arm  round  her 
friend's  waist.  "  I  should  think  so,  dear. 
We  don't  care  about  having  you  canonized 
just  yet.  But,  Maine,  there  must  be  more 


210  THE    GREEN   SATIN   GOWN 

red  leaves  somewhere.  This  comes  of 
living  near  the  sea.  Now,  in  my  moun 
tains,  or  in  your  woods,  we  could  just  go 
out  and  fill  our  arms  with  glory  in  five 
minutes,  whichever  way  we  turned.  These 
murmuring  pines  and  —  well,  I  don't  know 
that  there  are  any  hemlocks  —  are  all  very 
splendid,  and  no  one  loves  them  better 
than  I  do ;  but  for  a  Harvest  festival 
decoration,  'Us  ne  sont  pas  la  dedans,' 
as  the  French  have  it." 

"  Slang,  Tennessee  !  one  cent !  " 
"  On    the    contrary ;    foreign    language, 
mark  of  commendation. 

"  But  come  now,  and  see  my  war-dance. 
I  didn't  mean  to  let  any  one  see  it  before 
hand,  but  you  are  a  dear  old  thing,  and 
you  shall.  And  then,  we  can  take  counsel 
about  your  costume.  Not  that  I  have  the 
smallest  anxiety  about  that ;  I've  no  doubt 


THE    SCARLET  LEAVES  211 

you  have  thought  of  something  pretty  al 
ready.  I  don't  see  how  you  do  it.  When 
any  one  says  '  Clothes  '  to  me,  I  never  can 
think  of  anything  but  red  flannel  petti 
coats,  if  you  will  excuse  my  mentioning 
the  article.  I  think  Black-eyed  Susan 
sounds  delightful.  How  would  you  dress 
for  it  ?  you  have  the  pretty  yellow  dress 
all  ready." 

"  I  should  put  brown  velveteen  with  it. 
I  have  quite  a  piece  left  over  from  my 
blouse.  I'll  get  some  yellow  crepe  paper, 
and  make  a  hat,  or  cap,  with  a  brown 
crown,  you  know,  and  yellow  petals  for  the 
brim ;  and  have  a  brown  bodice  laced  to 
gether  over  the  full  yellow  waist,  and  — 

The  two  girls  passed  on,  talking  cheer 
fully —  it  is  always  soothing  to  talk  about 
pretty  clothes,  especially  when  one  is  as 
clever  as  Maine  was,  and  can  make,  as 


212  THE    GREEN    SATIN    GOWN 

Massachusetts  used  to  say,  a  court  train 
out  of  a  jack-towel. 

A  few  minutes  after,  Massachusetts 
came  along  the  same  corridor,  and  tapped 
at  another  door.  Hearing  "  Come  in  !  " 
she  opened  the  door  and  looked  in. 

"  Busy,  Chicago  ?  beg  pardon !  Miss 
Cram  asked  me,  as  I  was  going  by,  to 
show  you  the  geometry  lesson,  as  you  were 
not  in  class  yesterday." 

"Thanks!  come  in,  won't  you?"  said 
Chicago,  rising  ungraciously  from  her  desk, 
"  I  was  going  to  ask  Miss  Cram,  of  course, 
but  I'm  much  obliged." 

Massachusetts  pointed  out  the  lesson 
briefly,  and  turned  to  go,  when  her  eyes  fell 
on  a  jar  set  on  the  ground,  behind  the  door. 

"  Hallo  !  "  she  said,  abruptly.  "  You've 
got  scarlet  leaves,  too.  Where  did  you  get 
them?" 


THE    SCARLET  LEAVES  213 

"  I  found  them,"  said  Chicago,  coldly. 
"  They  were  growing  wild,  on  the  public 
highway.  I  had  a  perfect  right  to  pick 
them." 

There  was  a  defiant  note  in  her  voice, 
and  Massachusetts  looked  at  her  with  sur 
prise.  The  girl's  eyes  glittered  with  an  un 
easy  light,  and  her  dark  cheek  was  flushed. 

"I  don't  question  your  right,"  said 
Massachusetts,  bluntly,  "  but  I  do  question 
your  sense.  I  may  be  mistaken,  but  I 
don't  believe  those  leaves  are  very  good 
to  handle.  They  look  to  me  uncommonly 
like  dogwood.  I'm  not  sure ;  but  if  I  were 
you,  I  would  show  them  to  Miss  Flowrer 
before  I  touched  them  again." 

She  nodded  and  went  out,  dismissing  the 
matter  from  her  busy  mind. 

"  Spiteful !  "  said  Chicago,  looking  after 
her  sullenly. 


214  THE    GREEN   SATIN   GOWN 

"  She  suspects  where  I  got  the  leaves, 
and  thinks  she  can  frighten  me  out  of 
wearing  them.  I  never  saw  such  a  hateful 
set  of  girls  as  there  are  in  this  school. 
Never  mind,  sweet  creatures  !  The '  snake  ' 
has  got  the  scarlet  leaves,  and  she  knows 
when  she  has  got  a  good  thing." 

She  took  some  of  the  leaves  from  the 
jar,  and  held  them  against  her  black  hair. 
They  were  brilliantly  beautiful,  and  became 
her  well.  She  looked  in  the  glass  and 
nodded,  well  pleased  with  what  she  saw 
there  ;  then  she  carefully  clipped  the  ends 
of  the  branches,  and  put  fresh  water  in  the 
jar  before  replacing  them. 

"  Indian  Summer  will  take  the  shine  out 
of  Black-eyed  Susan,  I'm  afraid,"  she  said 
to  herself.  "  Poor  Susan,  I  am  sorry  for 
her."  She  laughed  ;  it  was  not  a  pleasant 
laugh ;  and  went  back  to  her  books. 


THE    SCARLET   LEAVES  215 

PART   III. 

"  What  a  pretty  sight !  " 

It  was  Miss  Wayland  who  spoke.  She 
and  the  other  teachers  were  seated  on  the 
raised  platform  at  the  end  of  the  gym 
nasium.  The  long  room  was  wreathed 
with  garlands  and  brilliantly  lighted,  and 
they  were  watching  the  girls  as  they  flitted 
by  in  their  gay  dresses,  to  the  waltz  that 
good  Miss  Flower  was  playing. 

"  How  ingenious  the  children  are !  " 
Miss  Wayland  continued.  "  Look  at  Vir 
ginia  there,  as  Queen  Elizabeth  !  Her  train 
is  my  old  party  cloak  turned  inside  out, 
and  her  petticoat  —  you  recognize  that?" 

"  I,  not ! "  said  Mademoiselle,  peering 
forward.  "  I  am  too  near  of  my  sight. 
What  ees  it?" 

"  The  piano  cover.     That  Persian   silk, 


216  THE    GREEN   SATIX   GOWN 

you  know,  that  my  brother  sent  me.  I 
never  knew  how  handsome  it  was  before. 
The  ruff,  and  those  wonderful  puffed 
sleeves,  are  mosquito-netting ;  the  whole 
effect  is  superb  —  at  a  little  distance." 

"  I  thought  Virginia  not  suffeeciently 
clayver  for  to  effect  zis ! "  said  Made 
moiselle.  "Of  custome,  she  shows  not  — 
what  do  you  say  ?  —  invention." 

"  Oh,  she  simply  wears  the  costume, 
with  her  own  peculiar  little  air  of  dignity. 
Maine  designed  it.  Maine  is  costumer  in 
chief.  The  Valiant  Three,  Maine,  Mas 
sachusetts,  and  Tennessee,  took  all  the 
unpractical  girls  in  hand,  and  simply  - 
dressed  them.  Entre  nous,  Mademoiselle, 
I  wish,  in  some  cases,  that  they  would  do 
it  every  day." 

"  Et  moi  aussi  !  "  exclaimed  Mademoi 
selle,  nodding  eagerly. 


THE    SCARLET  LEAVES  217 

"Maine  herself  is  lovely,"  said  Miss 
Cram.  "  I  think  hers  is  really  the  prettiest 
costume  in  the  room  ;  all  that  soft  brown 
and  yellow  is  really  charming,  and  suits 
her  to  perfection." 

"  Yes ;  and  I  am  so  glad  of  it,  for  the 
child  was  sadly  disappointed  about  some 
other  costume  she  had  planned,  and  got 
this  up  almost  at  the  last  moment.  She 
is  a  clever  child,  and  a  good  one.  Do  look 
at  Massachusetts  !  Massachusetts,  my  dear 
child,  what  do  you  call  yourself  ?  you  are 
a  most  singular  figure." 

"  The  Codfish,  Miss  Wayland  ;  straight 
from  Boston  State-House.  Admire  my 
tail,  please  !  I  got  up  at  five  o'clock  this 
morning  to  finish  it,  and  I  must  confess 
I  am  proud  of  it." 

She  flapped  her  tail,  which  was  a  truly 
astonishing  one,  made  of  newspapers  neatly 


218  THE    GREEN   SATIN   GOWN 

plaited  and  sewed  together,  and  wriggled 
her  body,  clad  in  well-fitting  scales  of 
silver  paper.  '•  Quite  a  fish,  I  flatter  my 
self  ?"  she  said,  insinuatingly. 

"  Very  like  a  whale,  if  not  like  a  codfish," 
said  Miss  Wayland,  laughing  heartily.  "  You 
certainly  are  one  of  the  successes  of  the 
evening,  Massachusetts,  and  the  Mosquito 
is  another,  in  that  filmy  gray.  Is  that 
mosquito-netting,  too  ?  I  congratulate  you 
both  on  your  skill.  By  the  way,  what  does 
Chicago  represent  ?  she  is  very  effective, 
with  all  those  scarlet  leaves.  What  •  are 
they,  I  wonder  !  " 

Massachusetts  turned  hastily,  and  a  low 
whistle  came  from  her  lips.  "  Whew  ! 
I  beg  pardon,  Miss  Wayland.  It  was  the 
codfish  whistled,  not  I ;  it's  a  wray  they 
have  on  Friday  evenings.  I  told  that 
girl  to  ask  Miss  Flower  about  those 


THE   SCARLET   LEAVES  219 

leaves ;  1  am  afraid  they  are  —  oh,  here 
is  Miss  Flower ! "  as  the  good  botany 
teacher  came  towards  them,  rather  out  of 
breath  after  her  playing. 

"  Miss  Flower,  what  are  those  leaves, 
please?  those  in  Chicago's  hair,  and  on 
her  dress." 

Miss  Flower  looked,  and  her  cheerful 
face  grew  grave. 

" RJius  veneneta"  she  said;  "poison 
dogwood." 

"  I  was  afraid  so ! "  said  Massachusetts. 
"  I  told  her  yesterday  that  I  thought  they 
were  dogwood,  and  advised  her  to  show 
them  to  you  before  she  touched  them  again." 

"  Poor  child ! "  said  kind  Miss  Flower. 
"  She  has  them  all  about  her  face  and  neck, 
too.  We  must  get  them  off  at  once." 

Slifi  was  starting  forward,  but  Miss 
Wayland  detained  her. 


220  THE    GREEN    SATIN    GOWN 

"  The  mischief  is  done  now,  is  it  not?" 
she  said.  tk  And  after  all,  dogwood  does 
not  poison  every  one.  I  have  had  it  in  my 
hands,  and  never  got  the  smallest  injury. 
Suppose  we  let  her  have  her  evening,  at 
least  till  after  supper,  which  will  be  ready 
now  in  a  few  minutes.  If  she  is  affected 
by  the  poison,  this  is  her  last  taste  of  the 
Harvest  Festivities." 

They  watched  the  girl.  She  was  receiv 
ing  compliments  on  her  striking  costume, 
from  one  girl  and  another,  and  was  in  high 
spirits.  She  glanced  triumphantly  about 
her,  her  eyes  lighting  up  when  they  fell 
on  Maine  in  her  yellow  dress.  She  cer 
tainly  looked  brilliantly  handsome,  the 
flaming  scarlet  of  the  leaves  setting  off  her 
dark  skin  and  flashing  eyes  to  perfection. 

Presently  she  put  her  hand  up  to  her 
cheek,  and  held  it  there  a  moment. 


THE   SCARLET  LEAVES  221 

"  Alia ! "  said  Massachusetts,  aloud. 
'•She's  in  for  it!" 

"  Li  for  what  ? "  said  Maine,  who  came 
up  at  that  moment.  Following  the  direc 
tion  of  Massachusetts'  eyes,  she  drew  her 
apart,  and  spoke  in  a  low  tone.  "  I  shall 
not  say  anything,  Massachusetts,  and  I 
hope  you  will  not.  Don't  you  know  ?  " 
she  added,  seeing  her  friend's  look  of 
inquiry.  "  Those  are  my  scarlet  leaves." 

"  No ! " 

"  Yes.  I  have  found  out  all  about  it. 
Daisy  lingered  behind  the  rest  of  us  the 
other  day,  when  I  had  been  telling  you  all 
about  the  leaves,  to  pick  blackberries.  She 
saw  Chicago  come  out  of  the  wood  a  few 
minutes  after  we  left,  looking  black  as 
thunder.  Don't  you  remember,  I  thought 
I  heard  a  rustling  in  the  fern,  and  you 
laughed  at  me  ?  She  was  hidden  there,  and 


222  THE    GREEN    SATIN    UO\V.\ 

heard  every  word  we  said.  Next  day  the 
leaves  were  gone,  and  now  they  are  on 
Chicago's  dress  instead  of  mine." 

"  And  a  far  better  place  for  them ! " 
exclaimed  Massachusetts,  '•  though  I  am 
awfully  sorry  for  her.  Oh  !  you  lucky, 
luck}-  girl !  and  you  dear,  precious,  stupid 
ignoramus,  not  to  know  poison  dogwood 
when  you  see  it." 

"  Poison  dogwood !  those  beautiful 
leaves ! " 

••  Those  beautiful  leaves.  That  young 
woman  is  in  for  about  two  weeks  of  as 
pretty  a  torture  as  ever  Inquisitor  or  Iro- 
quois  could  devise.  I  know  all  about  it, 
though  there  was  a  time  when  I  also  was 
ignorant.  Look !  she  is  feeling  of  her 
cheek  already ;  it  begins  to  sting.  To 
morrow  she  will  be  all  over  patches,  red 
and  white ;  itching  —  there  is  nothing  to 


THE   SCARLET  LEAVES  223 

describe  the  itching.  It  is  beyond  words. 
Next  day  her  face  will  begin  to  swell,  and 
in  two  days  more  —  the  School  Birthday, 
my  dear  —  she  will  be  like  nothing  human, 
a  mere  shapeless  lump  of  pain  and  horror. 
She  will  not  sleep  by  night  or  rest  by  day. 
She  will  go  home  to  her  parents,  and  they 
will  not  know  her,  but  will  think  we  have 
sent  them  a  smallpox  patient  by  mistake. 
Her  eyes  —  " 

"  Oh,  hush  !  hush,  Massachusetts  !  " 
cried  Maine.  "Oh!  poor  thing!  poor 
thing !  what  shall  I  do  ?  I  feel  as  if  it  were 
all  my  fault,  somehow." 

"  Your  fault  that  she  sneaked  and  eaves 
dropped,  and  then  stole  your  decoration  ? 
Oh  !  come,  Maine,  don't  be  fantastic!  " 

"  No,  Massachusetts,  I  don't  mean  that. 
But  if  I  had  only  known,  myself,  what 
they  were,  I  should  never  have  spoken  of 


224  THE    ORE  EX   SATIN    GOWN 

them,  and  all  this  would  never  have 
happened." 

''  The  moral  of  which  is,  study  botany  !  " 
said  Massachusetts. 

"  I'll  begin  to-morrow  !  "  said  Maine. 

"  And  what  is  to  be  the  end  of  the  dog 
wood  story,  I  wonder !  "  said  Tennessee, 
meeting  Massachusetts  in  a  breathless  inter 
val  between  two  exercises  on  the  School 
Birthday,  the  crowning  event  of  the  Har 
vest  Festivities  at  Miss  Wayland's.  "  Have 
you  heard  the  last  chapter  ?  " 

"No!  what  is  it?" 

"  Maine  is  in  a  dark  room  with  the 
moaning  Thing  that  was  Chicago,  singing 
to  her,  and  telling  her  about  tiie  speeches 
and  things  last  night.  She  vows  she  will 
not  come  out  again  to-day,  just  because  she 
was  at  chapel  and  heard  the  singing  this 


THE   SCARLET  LEAVES  225 

morning ;  says  that  was  the  best  of  it,  and 
she  doesn't  care  much  about  dancing. 
Maine !  and  Miss  Wayland  will  not  let  us 
break  in  the  door  and  carry  her  off  bodily ; 
says  she  will  be  happier  where  she  is,  and 
will  always  be  glad  of  this  day.  I'll  tell 
you  what  it  is,  Massachusetts,  if  this  is  the 
New  England  conscience  I  hear  so  much 
about,  I'm  precious  glad  I  was  born  in 
Tennessee." 

"  No,  you  aren't,  Old  One  !  you  wish  you 
had  been  born  in  Maine." 

"  Well,  perhaps  I  do  !  "  said  Tennessee. 


THE    END. 


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